Long ago, when it became clear that his opponent at certain stages was very likely the reclusive and aloof King Zhou Yi, Shen Qian had tried his best to learn about him.
It is impossible to know which era Zhou Yiwang belonged to. According to the oral accounts of some top experts that Shen Qian had contacted, Zhou Yiwang's earliest traces in history may be traced back to thousands of years ago, when the Zhou Dynasty, the third feudal dynasty in China, was established.
However, it is impossible to verify which emperor of the Zhou Dynasty Zhou Yiwang was originally identified with.
He even suspected that the Zhou Yi King might be a relic from an earlier era.
He used the character "易" (Yi) as his pseudonym, symbolizing the unpredictable nature of fate.
What kind of opponent is the most terrifying?
In Shen Qian's view, beings like King Zhou Yi, who always remain hidden in the shadows and manipulate and influence everything invisibly, are far more terrifying than open enemies like the Witch Emperor.
Even if the Witch King is the Great Emperor, and King Zhou Yi is likely just King Wu... Shen Qian's fear of King Zhou Yi is indescribable.
The most chilling thing is that Shen Qian often overlooks everything about the Book of Changes.
If his mental strength had not reached a certain level, and if the system had not issued warnings frequently, Shen Qian would have unconsciously faded his memories of King Zhou Yi over time. Even though his avatar, Ling Tianhou, had once tried to kill him, Shen Qian would often forget about it.
What an incredibly overpowered passive skill!
It is ineffable and imperceptible, yet anything spoken of will be detected... It is almost identical to the "Way of Heaven".
Only by keeping a tight rein on things could Shen Qian vaguely sense that something was wrong with Gu Donglai.
At this moment, when Shen Qian faced Zhou Yiwang behind Gu Donglai, the other party was fearless and confident. Only then did Shen Qian suddenly remember a detail he had forgotten.
King Zhou Yi frequently descended upon the Tower of Babel and consistently maintained the highest record for clearing it.
Whether he had ever stepped into the hundredth floor was unknown, but his footprints were found all over the first ninety-nine floors.
Looking back now, something that I didn't pay much attention to at the time is now full of flaws.
Although the Myriad Manifestations Tower is a secret realm open to martial artists of all levels, who is King Zhou Yi?
The only surviving King Wu!
Even if Jiang Huan is at the pinnacle, he is still only at the level of a mountain and sea. It is understandable that he would attempt to break through the Myriad Manifestations Tower. But what reason does King Zhou Yi have to linger here for so many years?
It should be noted that the founder of the Myriad Pagoda, the White Emperor, was only one level higher than him. Because he was not confident in dealing with King Zhou Yi, he could only bind him with a two-hundred-year agreement. Could the secret realm he left behind really test King Zhou Yi?
Therefore, there are only two possibilities.
Either the King of Zhouyi was searching for something, or he was setting something up within it... or both.
As soon as he had a thought, a phantom screen appeared in his mind. It was a collection of historical images of the Myriad Manifestations Pagoda that he had retrieved after communicating with the Pagoda Spirit, mainly the part about King Zhou Yi.
In those walkthrough scenes, Zhou Yiwang seemed to be experiencing the mysteries of the Tower of Myriad Phenomena as he reached each level, but Shen Qian instantly discovered something amiss.
Each time he entered a different level, he would linger in one or more places for a long time, and at these times, the images would become blurry, making it impossible to see what King Zhouyi was doing.
But cold sweat was already pouring down his forehead.
He realized he had fallen into a "trap" that had been carefully laid out beforehand.
He believed the Myriad Pagoda to be the safest, or rather, the safest, by all kings and nobles, but it had already been silently infiltrated by King Zhouyi. This method was so sophisticated that the spirit of the Myriad Pagoda was completely unaware of it.
If the King of Zhouyi could even fool fate, how could he not mislead a consciousness with only shallow wisdom?
"It seems you've discovered it."
Gu Donglai gazed at Shen Qian with a smile, then suddenly sighed, "You thought the Myriad Manifestations Tower should be your home turf? What a pity, how could a secret realm left behind by a fallen emperor possibly stump this king?"
As he spoke, Gu Donglai, or rather, Zhou Yiwang, suddenly waved his hand.
The surrounding scenery changed drastically. What was originally an empty space inside the tower suddenly became a dense forest with flowing water. It quickly turned into a barren desert with stars and aurora passing by. Various different scenes switched rapidly.
At the same time, Shen Qian's expression changed, because he realized that he had lost control of the Myriad Manifestations Tower and his connection with the tower spirit had been severed.
Before long, everything around him finally froze, and Shen Qian found himself on a black and white altar.
The altar was covered with various mysterious inscriptions, with the yin-yang symbol as the base and celestial symbols and Bagua patterns around it. Shen Qian stood in the very center of the altar.
A young man, whose appearance had changed to a different, more refined one, stood on another level of the altar, still smiling as he watched him.
A strong sense of unease arose in Shen Qian's heart. He tried to move away from the altar, but suddenly layers of illusory chains appeared all around him.
The chains were a pale red color, and there were exactly ninety-nine of them. They pierced through Shen Qian's body, seemingly non-existent, and Shen Qian had no sense of them, yet they firmly fixed Shen Qian to the altar.
"This is... a formation?"
Shen Qian frowned, his expression grave.
He sensed fluctuations resembling an array, but couldn't find any trace of it.
"It has taken me seventy-three years to lay down ninety-nine layers of the 'Life Stealing Record' in this Tower of Babel. Now it is finally time to reap the rewards."
King Zhou Yi seemed somewhat wistful, and said with a faint smile, "This is the 'path of destiny.' In terms of direct combat power, it is no match for other paths. Doing anything requires sufficient patience and a long period of time."
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