But unfortunately, on the fifteenth floor, Zihua only briefly sparred with the ten battle puppets before withdrawing from the battlefield.
"The fifteenth floor of the True Martial Tower is far more difficult than the fourteenth. If I recklessly unleashed my strongest sword strike, maybe I could pass it. But that move is too obvious. Once I use it, my identity will probably be exposed."
"Besides, clearing the fifteenth floor of the True Martial Tower by skill alone would be earth-shattering. Not only Bright Moon County, but the entire Maple Empire would be shaken. I'm still too weak now—it's better not to attract that much attention."
Zihua knew his limits.
Soon, he withdrew from the True Martial Tower.
In the end, he cleared the fourteenth floor of the True Martial Tower but stopped at the fifteenth!!
Outside the True Martial Tower, hundreds of people had already gathered. Among them was Wan'er, all of them staring intently at the tower lights on the black building.
When they saw that even Lord Sun had been alarmed and personally showed up, they realized that whoever was inside the True Martial Tower must be doing something extraordinary.
Sure enough, they watched as the tower lights lit up one after another.
The ninth floor... the tenth... the eleventh...
And finally, even the light on the fourteenth floor came on.
Everyone was stunned.
The entire massive plaza fell completely silent—so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
They were all engulfed in an overwhelming sense of shock and disbelief.
"Th-The fourteenth floor..." Wan'er murmured, her mouth slightly open.
She had thought that man had taken too long to get past the eighth floor and figured he wouldn't even make it through the ninth.
But to her shock...
What she didn't know was that Zihua hadn't even been serious before reaching the twelfth floor. He had just been casually swinging his sword around, almost toying with the battle puppets. That's why it had taken him a little longer.
"To clear the fourteenth floor of the True Martial Tower while still in the True Martial Realm... that means his skill is already on par with—or even surpasses—most experts at the Void Breaking Realm. A peerless talent like this... I doubt there's another one like him in the entire Maple Empire," someone nearby said in astonishment.
Just then, all fourteen tower lights on the True Martial Tower went out at the same time, and the door to the tower slowly opened.
"Look!"
"He's coming out!"
Everyone immediately turned their eyes toward the tower entrance.
Whoosh!
A figure descended from midair and landed directly in front of the gate.
The moment Zihua stepped out of the tower, he could feel countless fiery gazes land on him.
And those gazes were fiery—filled with undisguised shock, awe, and jealousy.
A True Martial Realm cultivator who had cleared the fourteenth floor... it was simply unbelievable.
"Greetings, young man." Sun, his white hair flowing, stood in front of Zihua with a warm smile. "I am Sun, the Supervisor of the Black Dragon Pavilion here in Bright Moon County."
"Greetings, Lord Sun," Zihua nodded politely.
"May I ask your name, young man?" Sun asked.
"Storm," Zihua replied.
He had already decided on that alias before entering the True Martial Tower.
"Storm?" Sun's eyes flickered slightly. He immediately realized it was just a pseudonym and understood Zihua had no intention of revealing his true identity. Naturally, he didn't press further.
"Young man, clearing the fourteenth floor of the True Martial Tower qualifies you to receive a Tier-Earth Token from the Black Dragon Pavilion," Sun said as he handed Zihua a gold-embossed token. The token bore the two characters "Black Dragon" in bold calligraphy.
"Tier-Earth, huh?" Zihua raised an eyebrow.
The Black Dragon Pavilion had four types of tokens—Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow—each representing different levels of access and authority within the pavilion.
The Tier-Yellow Token offered the most basic privileges, like requesting minor tasks from the Pavilion.
But the highest tier—the Tier-Heaven Token—was a whole different story. Under normal circumstances, someone with a Tier-Heaven Token could directly enter the Maple Empire's elite training camps for geniuses and receive massive resources from the empire at no cost.
However, a Tier-Heaven Token was incredibly difficult to obtain. Only those who could clear the fifteenth floor of the True Martial Tower, or reach the third floor of the Dragon-Seeking Tower while in the Sea Transformation Realm, were eligible. Talents of that caliber were so rare that even across the entire Maple Empire, one might only appear every few years—if not decades.
Zihua had cleared the fourteenth floor, which was already astonishing, but he was still a step away from qualifying for a Tier-Heaven Token.
"The Tier-Earth Token is more than enough," Zihua said as he accepted it, feeling genuinely pleased inside.
"Young man," Sun continued with a smile, "according to the rules, now that you hold a Tier-Earth Token, you have high-level access within our Black Dragon Pavilion. If you ever need us to assist you with something or require resources or treasures, just say the word. As long as it's within your authority level, we'll make sure it's taken care of."
He paused, then added, "However, we won't interfere with your personal growth. In other words, if you run into danger along your path or find yourself facing enemies, the Black Dragon Pavilion will not get involved."
"I understand," Zihua nodded.
Indeed, the Black Dragon Pavilion never intervened in the growth of geniuses. In fact, from their perspective, a certain amount of danger or even powerful enemies served as valuable training for those with great potential—so they chose to stay out of it.
"I actually do need some top-grade Spirit-Energy Gathering Pills," Zihua said.
"Top-grade Spirit-Energy Gathering Pills?" Sun chuckled.
These pills, due to their high quality and extremely low refinement success rate, were incredibly rare and valuable. But in reality, they were only useful for martial artists at the True Martial Realm. For those at the Sea Transformation Realm or higher, their effect was limited.
To the higher-ups of the Maple Empire, top-grade Spirit-Energy Gathering Pills weren't considered rare at all. And with Zihua's current Earth-tier status, requesting a batch of them was perfectly within reason.
"How many would you like, young man?" Sun asked.
"Twenty should do," Zihua replied.
He hadn't planned on asking for much. Twenty top-grade pills were more than enough for him to burn through during his time at the True Martial Realm. Once he broke into the Sea Transformation Realm, they'd become practically useless anyway.
Sun immediately gave instructions to the Pavilion staff.
"Please wait a moment, young man. I've already sent someone to prepare the pills—they'll be delivered shortly," Sun said.
"Thank you," Zihua replied with a faint smile.
Just then—
"Excuse me, sir," a soft voice called out.
Zihua's expression shifted slightly.
"Cousin Wan'er?" he thought, a little surprised.
It was Wan'er.
"Wan'er of the Bai family humbly asks for your guidance," she said, bowing deeply with her sword held respectfully in both hands. Her posture was extremely humble.
The crowd instantly stirred.
People couldn't help but admire her courage.
After all, this mysterious swordsman known as "Storm" had just cleared the fourteenth floor of the True Martial Tower. His swordsmanship was likely unmatched by anyone else at the True Martial Realm in the entire Maple Empire.
Meanwhile, Wan'er couldn't even get past the ninth floor.
The gap between them was enormous—several full tiers apart.
With such a vast difference in skill, most would only dare to look up in awe. But Wan'er had the guts to step forward and humbly ask for his guidance.