Cosmic Trading System

Inside the Heavenly Principle Tower.

"I've already breached the sixty-ninth floor, yet I still can't get out..." Lin Yun had just fought a bloody battle with a group of powerful combatants and his body was drenched in blood. He looked up at the murky sky above and sighed softly.

The passage of time within the Heavenly Principle Tower was not easy to calculate accurately, but he could roughly figure out that a year and a half should have passed outside the tower if he hadn't miscalculated.

A year and a half had gone by without leaving the tower; what could have happened in the outside world during that time?

He had a premonition that if he didn't leave when he should have, the events unfolding outside could potentially develop in an unfavorable direction.

"The Super Realm... the Super Realm... It's much harder to break through than I imagined. It's not just about having enough resources to break through, nor is a general accumulation of insights enough. What's missing is a major epiphany, an opportunity..."

"Moreover, if I'm not mistaken, it wouldn't have been so bad if my Mental Strength hadn't reached the Half Step Super Realm.

Now that both my Martial Arts strength and Mental Strength have reached the Half Step Super Realm together, I believe breaking through the Super Realm will require both forces to advance to the Super Realm at the same time, and thus, the difficulty of breaking through will be immensely greater!"

Lin Yun closed his eyes and sensed the two forces within his body again, murmuring.

Mental Strength had always been extremely difficult to cultivate. In the early stages, some Cultivators could enhance their Mental Strength quickly to a very high level using technological devices like the Cosmic Trading System, as long as they had enough energy.

However, such methods became ineffective later on.

And this approach nearly destroyed a person's foundation, their very groundwork.

As one progressed, it became increasingly difficult to cultivate and enhance Mental Strength.

Under normal circumstances, if a Cultivator's Mental Strength level were only two or three grades lower than their primary system of cultivation, it was considered quite good. For example, if a Martial Artist's Martial Arts level reached the late stage of level ten, then having Mental Strength at the early or mid-stage of level ten was decent.

In fact, many Cultivators had Mental Strength two to three major grades lower. For instance, a Martial Artist who reached the late stages of level ten in Martial Arts strength might only have level eight or nine in Mental Strength.

Likewise, for those whose primary focus was Mental Strength, the levels in their other cultivation systems were also not very high. Being just two or three grades lower was already excellent. Being two or three major grades lower was entirely normal.

Even for those 'lucky ones' who received the Cosmic Trading System, or those born into top-tier forces with a wealth of resources, the level of their Mental Strength, or other cultivation systems, would not fall too far behind their primary system at the initial stages.

Later on, like for Cultivators who reached the peak of level twelve, it became difficult for technology to enhance someone's Mental Strength to the late stages of level twelve. Therefore, reaching level twelve was commendable in itself, and for many, reaching the Mid Term Realm of level twelve was already top-tier.

Even a lot of Half Step Super Warriors were in the same situation.

The Heavenly Heart of the Universe and the Super Golden Liquid – such exceptionally rare and precious treasures that could continue to enhance one's power – were extremely scarce, even many well-established owners of the Cosmic Trading System, or heirs of top-tier forces with abundant resources, struggled to obtain them, let alone afford them.

And even if they could afford them, they might not be willing to make the purchase.

So, very few Cultivators, like Lin Yun, managed to reach the Half Step Super Realm with both their Martial Arts strength and Mental Strength at the same time.

Or perhaps, those from the top Super Warrior families had the resources to achieve this, but their affiliated forces made it clear to them that doing so would greatly increase the difficulty of breaking through to the Super Realm, deterring them from taking such a path.

In any case, Lin Yun now found himself in such a situation.

"Continue challenging the tower... I refuse to believe I can't break through the Super Realm. Since I can't exit the Heavenly Principle Tower right now, it's just as well. I can use this opportunity to train here for a while longer.

Every day I spend training here is the equivalent of training for dozens, even hundreds of days outside..." Lin Yun comforted himself with his eyes closed, feeling that this was all he could do under the circumstances.

He had a vague feeling that once he broke through to the Super Realm, he would certainly be able to leave the Heavenly Principle Tower.

It was said that the Heavenly Principle Tower repelled Super Warriors, also subtly hinting at this possibility.

Sigh.

Lin Yun opened his eyes and in the next moment, took a step forward, continuing on the path to challenge the sixty-ninth floor of the Heavenly Principle Tower.

Indeed, the higher one climbed within the tower, the better the training environment became; this had been confirmed.

However, his progress through the tower was slowing down more and more.

For the last few floors, it had nearly taken him a month to get through each one.

Fortunately, in the last few floors, he encountered combatants whose strength mostly did not exceed the fourth level of the Super Realm. At most, they were stronger or more numerous, but it wasn't necessary for him to defeat them to proceed through that level's space.

Otherwise, he might not have been able to reach the sixty-ninth floor at all.

"The Heavenly Principle Tower is impenetrable to Super Warriors... Does this mean that the difficulty is designed for those below the Super Realm, and hence, those below the Super Realm can always find a way to break through if they try hard enough..." Lin Yun thought to himself.

Was this the way the Heavenly Principle Tower chose its master? Was it waiting to choose the strongest Half Step Super Warrior? Or perhaps the one with the most potential?

A Half Step Super Warrior... If one were strongest, they could contend with a fourth-level Super Realm Warrior, which is probably the limit, right?

The realm of saints... he dared not even think about it!

Based on the information he had, there were far too many warriors in the realm of saints who surpassed the fourth level of the super realm. He couldn't imagine that a half-step super warrior could be a match for someone in the realm of saints!

However, just as he was thinking this, Lord Black of the Heavenly Principle Tower's fiftieth floor flickered through his mind.

The impression Lord Black had left on him was profound. Back then, his own strength was far from the level it had reached now, but he was unclear whether Lord Black had ascended to the realm of saints or... was he simply a slightly stronger warrior at the fourth level of the super realm?

He still remembered that the power Lord Black had used at that time felt like it was just from the fourth level of the super realm, but he always had a feeling that Lord Black's realm should be more than that.

"He shouldn't have reached the realm of saints, right? After all, he was only the combat power at the fiftieth floor of the Heavenly Principle Tower. I've now reached the sixty-ninth floor of the tower, and I haven't encountered any warriors at the realm of saints..." Lin Yun thought to himself silently.

Perhaps it was his insufficient strength at the time that had given him such an illusion, Lin Yun told himself.

Soon, Lin Yun put this matter aside.

On the path of cultivation, it wasn't good to keep dwelling on such an issue in his mind.

...

In the blink of an eye, Lin Yun spent another twenty days on the sixty-ninth floor of the Heavenly Principle Tower. In total, he had been on this floor for forty-two days when finally, a spatial fluctuation emerged ahead of him.

The space of the sixty-ninth floor of the Heavenly Principle Tower had been conquered by him!

The seventieth floor of the Heavenly Principle Tower appeared!

"Let's go!"

Lin Yun took a step forward, and a new world appeared before him. Just as he had guessed, the space he entered was indeed the seventieth floor of the Heavenly Principle Tower!

Fifty days later, the space of the seventieth floor had been conquered by him!

Upon stepping onto the seventy-first floor of the Heavenly Principle Tower, Lin Yun's white clothes were mostly stained with the color of fresh blood; some from enemies, some his own. The aura emanating from his body had become even sharper, and naturally, his power had improved quite a bit!

The Bloodthirsty Sword in his hand hummed, emitting a faint, eerie, blood-red light!

At this moment, if Lin Yun were to encounter top super warriors like Ao Firestone or Wei Firestone again, he was confident that he could defeat them in a dozen moves or less. Even better, if they had no powerful trump cards, he was sure he could kill them single-handedly!

This strength had surpassed that of Little Gold's mother, Shan, and even Modan!

Now, Lin Yun's accomplishments in mental strength were not just about reaching a certain level, he had also distinctly become a grandmaster of mental strength!

With the aid of the Bloodthirsty Sword's effect on mental strength, he could easily defeat ordinary super warriors with his mental strength alone, or even kill them without much effort!

After sixty days, Lin Yun conquered the seventy-first floor of the Heavenly Principle Tower!

Seventy days later, he conquered the seventy-second floor!

At this point, Lin Yun had been challenging the Heavenly Principle Tower for over two years!

To be precise, it had been two years and one month!

However, Lin Yun felt that he was still a great distance away from breaking through to the super realm!

"I still can't leave the Heavenly Principle Tower..."

Lately, every time he conquered a floor of the tower, Lin Yun would try to see if he could leave the Heavenly Principle Tower. At this moment, once again disappointed, he murmured softly.

The next moment, Lin Yun looked up, his eyes gazing into the new world.

The seventy-third floor of the Heavenly Principle Tower, whether it was an illusion or not, subtly gave him a feeling that it was greatly different from the previous spaces.

"The forty-ninth floor of the Heavenly Principle Tower... seventy-seven is a mythical number in the minor heavenly order. After that, there was a great change in the environment within the tower's space...

For the following numbers like eighty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty-nine, seventy-nine, etc., which are all numbers of the minor heavenly order, there were clear qualitative changes in the spaces of the tower. Now it's eighty-nine, according to the pattern of changes, a change is quite normal, but... the feeling of this change seems quite extraordinary..."

"Eighty-nine... is also a number of the major heavenly order, the exact count of the celestial warriors. It is said that there are one hundred and eight floors in total in the Heavenly Principle Tower, corresponding to the number of the great heavenly cycle, as well as the sum of celestial warriors and earthly fiends. Could it be that the space inside the tower is about to undergo a major change..."

Lin Yun's expression was solemn as he spoke softly.