Investment Return System, Start by taking Demon Empress as a Disciple

Chapter 135: Anomalous Sea of Qi, Three Thousand Demons

"My rooster... Where's my rooster?!"

Upon waking up, Jiang Du incessantly muttered, to the point that he nearly pulled down his pants in his desperation. Fortunately, the Tower Spirit of the second level intervened in time to halt his actions.

"You've passed within two and a half hours. This Profound Tier artifact is your reward for this level."

The Tower Spirit cast Jiang Du a disdainful glance, casually tossing a Profound Tier artifact over before opening the stairway to the third level.

Jiang Du, who had accompanied the two extraordinary girls, should have held his own. After all, those two women had both completed the mental trial within a quarter-hour.

However, Jiang Du's performance left the Tower Spirit greatly disappointed. And why did this fellow start searching for a rooster the moment he woke up? Did he have a problem?

…

Two hours prior.

Within the third level, Leng Yanran and Li Yourong had already encountered the Tower Spirit. Ironically, the trial of the third level proved to be the simplest.

"Since you've passed the trials of strength and mentality, this level can be considered a bonus stage. "Infuse your spiritual energy into this Spirit Pearl; it will illuminate in five colors: white, yellow, purple, red, and gold.

"White signifies elimination, yellow grants a Profound Tier artifact as a reward and results in elimination, purple and above signify completion, while gold signifies a perfect completion."

The Tower Spirit of the third level appeared as an elderly figure, explaining the rules of the third level to the two.

"Allow me to go first."

Observing the situation, Leng Yanran casually stepped forward and placed her hand on the Spirit Pearl, which could absorb and assess the intensity of one's spiritual energy. Without delay, she infused her spiritual qi into the pearl.

In an instant, the color of the Spirit Pearl changed to red, skipping the first three colors entirely.

"Hiss…"

Before the Tower Spirit of the third level could even express surprise, the red color of the Spirit Pearl transformed into gold.

"Gold-level spiritual intensity!"

The old man's eyes lit up, on the verge of announcing Leng Yanran's perfect completion and issuing rewards.

Crack! Suddenly, a crisp sound resonated as the Spirit Pearl exploded!

"Uh…"

The elder was dumbfounded. A fragment of the pearl even flew directly at him, passing through his head. Fortunately, being a spiritual entity, he remained unharmed.

Over the years, he hadn't even seen anyone with gold-level spiritual intensity; at most, there were those who possessed exceptional red-level talent. Yet today, the intensity of this woman's spiritual power was so overwhelming that the Spirit Pearl couldn't withstand it and burst open?

"…This thing is so fragile. It exploded before I even exerted force… Does it count as a perfect completion?"

After muttering to herself, Leng Yanran turned to the stupefied elder and inquired, "Does it count?"

"It counts! Of course, it counts! Congratulations, challengers, on achieving a perfect score!"

The Tower Spirit of the third level, an elderly figure, finally responded. He presented three treasure boxes once again, though this time the rewards inside had been elevated to the Top Grade of Heaven Rank!

Leng Yanran casually chose one of the treasures and put it away, then shifted her gaze to her junior sister.

"Just wait a moment." The elder stepped forward, replacing the broken Spirit Pearl, before allowing Li Yourong to approach.

"Should I be more gentle?" She hesitated. "In case I break this one, it'd be quite embarrassing…"

After pondering, Li Yourong decided to exert a minuscule, nearly imperceptible amount of her spiritual energy into the pearl. Despite this, the color of the pearl immediately lit up with red, then transformed into gold!

It was another perfect score!

The elder on the side widened his eyes in astonishment. He couldn't fathom where these two prodigies had come from! To have two women with gold-level spiritual potency at the same time—it was truly a heaven-defying occurrence!

"Congratulations, challenger, you also achieve a perfect score!"

After announcing the result, the elder allowed Li Yourong to select a Heaven Rank treasure. Then, he opened the pathway to the fourth level for the two.

"Thank goodness the second prodigy isn't as terrifying as the first one. At least the pearl didn't break…"

After seeing the two off, the elder was still shaking his head in disbelief.

Crack! However, just as he was about to revel in his thoughts, a sharp sound reached his ears.

Stiffening, the elder turned around to witness the Spirit Pearl behind him, riddled with cracks. Though it hadn't completely shattered, it was rendered useless!

"These prodigies are truly something else…" The elder's eyelid twitched, forced to replace the second Spirit Pearl, and he took out the last remaining one to put in its place.

…

The two sisters soon reached the fourth level.

"This is the trial of the Qi Sea. Based on the strength of your Qi Sea, even anomalies, we'll assess your score. Both of you will need to fully unleash your Qi Sea shortly."

The Tower Spirit of the fourth level seemed disinclined to speak—perhaps because few had reached this level over the years, leading to a natural decline in communication. Nevertheless, the rules were quite straightforward.

"Senior sister, why don't you go first?" Li Yourong listened with partial comprehension and decided to let her senior sister take the lead.

Leng Yanran nodded slightly. Within her Qi Sea, it seemed that there truly were anomalies. Today was the perfect opportunity to test the strength of these Qi Sea anomalies.

"Let's begin," the Tower Spirit said in a calm tone, looking at Leng Yanran.

Without hesitation, Leng Yanran activated her Qi Sea with all her might. Instantly, her spiritual energy swelled, enveloping her form, and a terrifying aura swept through the fourth level's space. Even the composed Tower Spirit's pupils contracted abruptly as he gazed in astonishment at what was happening behind Leng Yanran.

One after another, phantoms of chaotic heavenly demons gradually manifested. Confronting the Tower Spirit, Leng Yanran's presence made him feel as if his hair was standing on end, his scalp tingling. He froze in place, immobilized by the gaze of three thousand chaotic celestial demon phantom eyes.

Being stared at by those crimson pupils of the three thousand chaotic heavenly demon phantoms, he felt as tiny as a speck of dust, as if he could be torn apart by those phantoms at any moment.

Fortunately, just as the Tower Spirit was on the brink of collapsing under the pressure and was about to give in, Leng Yanran gradually calmed her Qi Sea, dispelling the anomaly.

Phew… The Tower Spirit finally let out a long sigh of relief, and it took him a while to finally suppress the fear within him.

"An Qi Sea anomaly so terrifying, unheard of… Congratulations, challenger, you have achieved a perfect score on the fourth level!" The Tower Spirit announced, presenting the rewards for the fourth level.

After recovering, he offered a top-tier Heaven Rank treasure.

"It turns out that you just need to activate it like this," Li Yourong commented from the side. She had been relatively unaffected, and the Tower Spirit realized that she had been closest to the anomaly earlier but hadn't been suppressed.

There was only one possible explanation: the other challenger's Qi Sea anomaly was just as powerful as the three thousand chaotic heavenly demon phantoms she had just conjured.

Otherwise, under normal circumstances, when anomalies clashed, the side with the anomaly would often be suppressed by thirty to sixty percent of their strength.

"Wait, I'll go back first."

As this thought crossed his mind, Tower Spirit became exceedingly cautious, stepping back several dozen meters. He had no desire to experience the terror he had just endured. Being a spiritual entity, the suppression from these anomalies was particularly pronounced for him, nearly causing his collapse.

"Let's begin!"