Chapter 33: -33- A challenge

Chapter 33: -33- A challenge Silas nodded his head. This was more or less the same information he had learned from his clan that was passed down from his founding ancestor, who entered this place from the outside world.

Several clansmen had also tried their luck in the battle pagoda over the many years, but most never came back and were suspected to have died.

He then turned his attention to the 30 armored warriors that, while being golems, looked like actual men.

[Golem - Qi Cultivation: Peak Transcendent - Body Cultivation: Peak Transcendent]

'Let's see how strong you are,' Silas thought as he pulled out his scythe and attacked one of the golems. He wanted to see how strong each individual golem was.

"Bang!" Silas first attacked without his dao and just met the golem head-on to test its strength.

'Damn,' Silas thought. This golem had the strength of a weak Early Revolving Core. While Silas was easily stronger than it, since with his Late Transcendent body cultivation, he had the strength of a strong Early Revolving Core. Most Transcendent lifeforms would struggle to defeat this golem, and there were 30 of these golems.

Silas, now knowing the strength of these golems, quickly began to attack them with his dao, using both his scythe and his two sickles to slowly destroy the golems.

"Shing!" "Shing!" "Shing!"

He continued his onslaught against the golems, but they weren't easy to destroy. They could be ground down to powder, but as long as they had divine power remaining, they could rebuild themselves.

Ten minutes went by with Silas grinding down the golems before he was finally teleported to the next floor.

He was still in a large cave.

The old hunchbacked man appeared before him and asked, "Would you like to continue?"

"Yes," Silas said, nodding his head.

The old man disappeared, and eight armed warriors teleported in.

[Golem - Qi Cultivation: Peak Transcendent - Body Cultivation: Peak Transcendent]

'Dao battle armor?' Silas thought. Each of the eight warriors wore the same type of armor that had intricate runes drawn on them.

Silas knew what dao battle armor was. It allowed every soldier to combine their energy together to attack while also allowing them to combine their efforts together for defense.

So while these eight Peak Transcendent golems seemed like less of a challenge than the previous 30, this battle would be much more challenging than the previous, with each of the eight golems being linked together.

"Bang!" "Shing!" "Shing!" "Bang!" "Shing!"

Silas slowly began to wear these golems down as well. Even though they were more of a challenge than the last fight, and many cultivators had likely lost their lives to these golems, to Silas this wasn't a challenge.

Silas soon passed this floor as well.

On the 3rd floor, he faced a single golem that was a strong Early Revolving Core qi and body cultivator.

On the 4th floor, he had to just stand there and defend for one solid hour without being touched a single time.

On the 5th floor, his offense was tested. A shimmering barrier from a formation was put before him, and he had to break through it in less than an hour. While this sounded like it wasn't deadly, the walls on each side of Silas were slowly closing, so if he failed to destroy the formation, his destiny would be to die by being crushed.

On the 6th floor, Silas's defense was once again tested. Only this time, instead of being bombarded by multiple attacks for an hour, his absolute peak defense was tested. All he had to do was withstand one attack from a rank 4 Early Golden Core cultivator.

On the 7th floor, he had to break through another formation barrier, only this time he had to do it in one attack.

"BANG!!!" After breaking the wall on the 7th floor, the old man teleported in once again.

This time, his face had what could be called a slight smile.

"Congratulations on passing the 7th floor... would you like to exit here or challenge the 8th floor?

"I will add, the 8th floor is beyond difficult. It has only been passed twice in the past millions of years."

"Yes, I'll challenge the 8th floor," Silas said with confidence. If others could pass the floor, he felt that he could as well.

Silas was once again teleported into a large cave. This time, a massive 20-meter-tall golem stood in front of him.

[Golem - Qi Cultivation: Earth Immortal - Body Cultivation: Earth Immortal]

Silas's eyes widened at this. How was he supposed to defeat this thing?

'How am I supposed to defeat this?' Silas thought.

'Maybe I'm just supposed to show my courage?' Silas thought with hope, knowing he stood no chance at defeating this golem.

But soon, his questions were answered.

"If you can force me to take a step back, you pass; you have one hour," the golem said as it just stood there defenseless, not seeming to even try to put up any type of defense.

"I just have to force him to take a step back?" Silas muttered.

Silas now stood there, scythe in hand, staring at the towering 20-meter-tall Earth Immortal golem. His heart raced. Even with all his confidence, this was unlike any opponent he had faced before. The golem's body shimmered with a faint glow of qi and divine power, giving off an aura that felt impenetrable.

He clenched his scythe tightly. The golem's deep voice once again echoed in the cave. "If you can force me to take a step back, you pass."

Silas' mind raced. A single step back? It sounded simple, but the sheer difference in cultivation made this a near-impossible task. His dao of destruction, dao of death, and dao of the scythe would be put to the ultimate test.

No more hesitation.

With a flick of his wrist, his two flying sickles shot forward, propelled by his divine will. They zipped through the air, aimed at the golem's chest. He simultaneously charged forward, his body growing to 18 meters tall using his divine ability [Heavenly Transformation], his scythe gleaming with dark energy from the lesser dao of cleaving.

"Crumble!" he roared, invoking his dao of destruction.

The sickles hit the golem first, slicing across its body with a sharp "Shing!". Silas followed up with a wide, diagonal slash with his scythe, empowered by the dao of crumbling. A shockwave rippled through the cave, striking the golem with the force of a collapsing mountain.

"Bang!"

The blow hit the golem's torso, but the towering figure didn't budge. Dust and debris flew off its body, but the guardian didn't even flinch. The golem merely stood still, like a mountain unmoved by the wind.

"Too weak," it said, its voice like grinding rocks.

Silas clicked his tongue, frustration building. He leaped back, dodging a counterattack that the golem hadn't yet thrown but would inevitably follow. The golem wasn't in a rush—it had no need to be. Silas only had one hour, but the pressure felt suffocating.

The sickles flew back toward Silas, who willed them to attack again. He used his divine will to control their sharp edges, making them slice in unpredictable patterns. One slashed at the golem's knee, the other at its shoulder. Meanwhile, Silas dashed around to its flank, spinning his scythe in a wide arc, focusing all his energy into one concentrated strike using the dao of cleaving.

"Cleaving!" he shouted, letting his weapon fly with every ounce of force he could muster.

"Shing!"

The sickles hit first, biting into the golem's body, while his scythe followed up, carving into the golem's side. The impact was enormous, enough to shatter stone, but the golem... remained unmoved. His attacks left faint scratches, but that was it; no blood fell.

A heavy fist swung down toward Silas faster than he had anticipated. He barely had time to react, jumping back at the last second. The fist smashed into the ground with a deafening boom, sending stone shards flying through the air.

Silas panted, his heart pounding. His attacks weren't enough. Not yet.

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The golem began to move now, slowly lifting its foot to crush him. The Earth Immortal cultivation was overwhelming—an invisible pressure weighed on Silas' chest. His time was slipping away. He couldn't afford to hold back any longer.

Silas closed his eyes for a brief moment, reaching deep within himself. He felt the three daos swirling inside him—Crumbling, Rot, Cleaving. They were all part of him. But one of them, Cleaving, was the key. He hadn't fully grasped its power, not yet, but now there was no choice. His scythe was the embodiment of this dao. If he could elevate it, even just a little...

"Boom!" Another strike from the golem missed him by inches, the ground quaking beneath its weight.

Silas breathed deeply, visualizing the path of the scythe. Not just its edge, but its purpose: to cleave through anything, no matter the obstacle. He felt a surge within him, a burning sensation in his chest. The dao of cleaving—it was awakening, evolving.

Suddenly, the air around him shimmered with power. His scythe began to glow, brighter and sharper than ever before.

"Minor completion..."

Silas opened his eyes, and they gleamed with determination. The sickles spun around him in a frenzy, now faster and sharper, their connection to him even stronger.

He raised his scythe high, focusing on his newly enhanced dao. The golem stepped forward again, but this time, Silas was ready.

With a burst of speed, he shot forward, his entire being centered on one strike. The sickles moved in unison, guided by his will, as they aimed for the golem's legs. At the same time, Silas leaped into the air, his scythe charged with the combined power of his three daos—Crumbling, Rot, and Cleaving.

"Fall!" he roared.

In one swift motion, his scythe came down like a crescent moon, glowing with dark energy. The sickles struck the golem's legs at the exact moment his scythe hit the golem's chest.

"BOOOM!!!"

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[A/n: I changed some of the ranks it now goes:

1. Mortal

2. Transcendent

3. Revolving Core

4. Golden Core]