?Location: The Tower of Ten Thousand Beasts – The Space Between Floors
Time: 30 Minutes into the Trial
?To a normal cultivator, the Tower was a gauntlet of escalating horror. To ascend, one had to defeat the Guardian of the Staircase, a feat requiring blood, sweat, and enlightenment.
?To Aris, the Tower was just bad code.
?[System Cheat: Noclip Mode (Active)]
[Collision Detection: Disabled.]
?Aris and Mo were walking through a grey void. Above them, a wireframe ceiling depicted the floor of Level 60. Below them, the roaring of a Level 55 Thunder-Lion on Floor 59 was muted to a dull hum.
?"We are walking inside the walls," Mo observed, looking at his hand passing through a stone pillar. "This feels... wrong. It violates the Dao of Space."
?"It violates the Dao of Programming," Aris corrected, stepping onto an invisible platform. "The architect of this tower was lazy. He didn't render the physics between the floors because he assumed no one would ever be here."
?Aris pointed up.
?"Jump."
?They leaped. They passed through the stone floor of Level 60 like ghosts.
?Inside Level 60, a Magma Python was coiled around the exit gate, waiting for a challenger. It didn't even see them. They floated past its head, invisible and intangible, and phased through the ceiling to Level 61.
?[Floor 60 Skipped.]
[Floor 70 Skipped.]
[Floor 80 Skipped.]
?"It's efficient," Aris noted. "But boring. We're missing all the loot."
?"If we kill the beasts, the scoreboard updates," Mo reminded him. "If we skip them, the scoreboard shows... what?"
?Location: Outside the Tower – The Plaza
Time: Simultaneous
?The crowd was confused.
?The massive screen displaying the rankings was glitching.
?[Rank 1: Han Xiao]
[Floor: 50... 55... 62... 78...]
[Status: Error. Connection Lost. Signal Interrupted.]
?"What is happening?" A disciple pointed. "He's jumping ten floors a minute! Is he flying?"
?The Proctor, an elderly man with thick glasses, was frantically tapping the control stone.
?"It must be a sensor malfunction," the Proctor sweated. "The Tower is ancient. Sometimes the tracking array desynchronizes. He is probably stuck on Floor 51, and the array is just... guessing."
?"Stuck on Floor 51?" A Core Disciple scoffed. "If he's stuck, why hasn't he been ejected? It's been an hour."
?"He's hiding," someone laughed. "The coward found a safe spot and is taking a nap!"
?The crowd laughed. It fit the narrative. Han Xiao, the lucky coward, was hiding in a corner while the scoreboard glitched out.
?Location: Floor 99 – The Gate of the Founder
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Time: 1 Hour Later
?Aris and Mo materialized on solid ground.
?Floor 99 was not a battlefield. It was a pristine white hallway leading to a massive golden door. The air here was heavy with Divine Pressure.
?"Noclip off," Aris commanded. "The physics engine here is robust. It has anti-cheat protection."
?They walked to the door.
?[System Warning: High-Level Barrier.]
[Type: Soul-Lock.]
[Requirement: Defeat the Guardian of Floor 99.]
?The "Guardian" stood before the door. It wasn't a beast.
?It was a mirror.
?A perfect, silver mirror that reflected Aris.
?"A Mirror Match?" Aris sighed. "How cliché. It copies my stats and skills, right?"
?The reflection stepped out of the mirror. It was Aris (wearing the Han Xiao disguise). It smirked.
?"I am you," the Reflection spoke. "I know your secrets. I know you are the Void Sovereign. To pass, you must defeat yourself."
?Mo drew his sword. "I will kill it."
?"No," Aris stopped him. "If you attack it, it spawns a Mo. And a Level 71 Mo is a problem."
?Aris stepped forward. He looked at his clone.
?"You know my secrets?" Aris asked.
?"Everything," the Clone nodded, eyes flashing violet. "I know the System. I know the Key Fragments. I know about the Naglfar."
?"Then you know this," Aris whispered.
?Aris opened his System Console.
?[Command: Delete File.]
[Target: Cache/Temp_Files/Mirror_Clone.exe]
?The Clone froze. It looked down at its hands. They were pixelating.
?"Wait," the Clone panicked. "That's cheating! You can't just delete me! This is a cultivation trial!"
?"And I'm the Administrator," Aris tapped "Enter" on his mental keyboard.
?"Nooooo—"
?The Clone dissolved into static. The mirror shattered.
?[Floor 99 Cleared.]
?"How?" Mo asked, staring at the empty frame.
?"It copied my data," Aris explained, walking to the golden door. "But it ran on the Tower's hardware. I just corrupted its memory file. It crashed."
?Aris pushed the golden door open.
?"Floor 100. The Server Room."
?Location: Floor 100 – The Sanctum
Time: The Encounter
?The room was vast. It wasn't a stone chamber. It was a holographic observatory floating in space.
?In the center sat an old man. He wore simple grey robes. He was drinking tea.
?[Scan: The First Sect Leader (Simulation)]
[Name: Grandmaster Beast-God.]
[Status: AI Construct / Remnant Soul Hybrid.]
?The old man looked up. His eyes were stars.
?"You are not a beast tamer," the old man said gently. "You smell of metal and void."
?"And you are not a cultivator," Aris replied, walking closer. "You are a sub-routine of the Ark."
?The old man smiled. "The Ark... I haven't heard that name in ten thousand years. Yes. Before I founded this sect, I was a Passenger. When the ship crashed in Sector 12, I brought the terraforming beasts here to Sector 33."
?He put down his tea.
?"You seek the Treasury Access."
?"I do," Aris confirmed. "I need Void Key Fragment #5. It's in your Vault."
?"The Vault is locked for a reason," the Founder said. "The weapons inside are dangerous. If I give you access, what will you do?"
?"I will save the universe," Aris said flatly. "Or destroy it. I haven't decided yet. But I need the Keys to do either."
?The Founder studied him. The starlight in his eyes swirled.
?"Honest. Arrogant. Capable."
?The Founder raised a hand. A beam of light shot into Aris's forehead.
?[System Alert: Data Download.]
[Access Granted: Vault of Thousand Weapons (Admin Privileges).]
[Access Granted: Tower Defense Grid (View Only).]
?"Take it," the Founder said. "But be warned. The current Sect Leader... he has forgotten the purpose of the Ark. He thinks we are gods. Remind him we are just survivors."
?"I will," Aris bowed.
?"Now," the Founder smiled mischievously. "You must leave. But you cannot leave as a conqueror. If the sect knows you cleared Floor 100, they will dissect you."
?"I have a plan for that," Aris grinned.
?Location: Outside the Tower
Time: 5 Minutes Later
?The screen flickered back to life.
?[Floor 99: Han Xiao vs The Mirror.]
?The crowd gasped. "He's on Floor 99?! When did he get there?"
?Suddenly, the image on the screen clarified.
?They saw Han Xiao standing before the golden door to Floor 100. He looked terrified. He reached for the handle.
?Then, he tripped.
?On the screen, Han Xiao tripped over his own robe. He stumbled forward, head-butted the doorframe, and knocked himself unconscious.
?[Status: Critical Failure.]
[Participant Unconscious.]
[Ejecting...]
?A beam of light shot out of the Tower entrance. Aris (Han Xiao) was deposited onto the pavement of the plaza, snoring loudly.
?The crowd stared.
?"He... he made it to Floor 99..." one disciple whispered.
?"And then knocked himself out on the door," another groaned. "Typical! Classic Han Xiao!"
?"So close, yet so stupid!"
?The Proctor sighed, wiping sweat from his brow. "Floor 99... by sheer dumb luck. It is a record. But he failed the final test. He is... Rank 1 Core Disciple."
?Aris lay on the ground, listening to the murmurs.
?Perfect, he thought. I am the King of Fools. And I have the keys to the bank.
Wiki Update - The First Sect Leader:
?Origin: A survivor of the "Great Crash" that created the Sectors. He used genetic engineering (Beast Taming) to survive on the hostile planet. The "Magic" of the Myriad Beasts Sect is actually highly advanced biology disguised as Daoism.
