Chapter 24: Ascension Tower!

Chapter 24: Ascension Tower! Ken was eager to try out his weapon, the xian liansuo, or string chain in English. He was fascinated by how unique it was. Due to Earth obviously not having magical technology, strings couldn’t change into bladed chains. This was one of the reasons he was headed to the Ascension Tower. Power... such a word held different meanings, even in this world. For spirit path cultivators... it was control, but for western warriors it meant sheer destruction. It could mean authority or simply the ability to dominate a continent-sized land with a golden fist and even ascended strategic wisdom. Ken wanted it all. Anything that promised him full control over his own fate, he wanted. At first he believed that only knowledge could grant him such things. Information in its unblemished form meant knowing what your enemy’s mother had for dinner the day she gave birth to him. This was the knowledge Ken yearned for in all its exaggerated beauty. However, that was the case on Earth; there you could destroy an entire nation if its secrets were laid bare and have access to the most destructive of weapons. But, in this world, things were vastly different. so different that even if you created the strongest of weapons and knew exactly when, how, and why your enemy would be at a certain place. You’d be dead before your enemy does. Nonetheless, information was top priority in Ken’s book, and the second he reached a sufficient level, control would follow. Looking at the majestic dark tower piercing the sky, Ken wondered if there was a path out there that had a heavy connection to control. Letting go of such thoughts, he looked at the large ranking plastered on the front of the tower. Countless spirits, as if following a formation, displayed the top 100 ranked individuals and their current floor. And there wasn’t just one but two rankings. The first one was called the ’Trial Ranking’. Whatever this trial was, Ken wasn’t informed yet. The second was the ’Floor Ranking’. and while the trial ranking only had the top disciples reaching the 2nd trial. The floor ranking had some reaching up to the 5th. [<----------Trial-Ranking---------->] Alister Doggan - 1st - Trial: 2nd. Diana HeinLich - 2nd - Trial: 2nd. Darren Doggan - 3rd - Trial: 2nd. Anas Spirit - 4th - Trial: 2nd. Layla Grounbreaker - 5th - Trial: 2nd. Darek ShadowSmith - 6th - Trial: 2nd. . .. ... [<---------------------------------->] [<----------Floor-Ranking---------->] Alister Doggan - 1st - Floor: 5th Darren Doggan - 2nd - Floor: 5th Diana HeinLich - 3rd- Floor: 5th Anas Spirit - 4th - Floor: 5th Darek ShadowSmith - 5th- Floor: 5th Saimon Saad - 6th - Floor: 4th . .. ... [<---------------------------------->] The trial had 7 going up to the 2nd trial, and from the 8th to the 100th, all were only at the 1st. As for the floor ranking, starting with the 6th ranked, it started going down, with the 100th ranked being the only one on the 3rd floor. [The Ascension Tower... indeed, the easiest way to ascend as a spirit path treader. Go for the trials; training can come later.] Realizing that the floors should be what he imagined towers normally were from the hints that they acted as training. Ken decided to follow the advice and take on the trials first. Though he was surprised that the hints actually led him to what to do, they mostly joked around and left the rest to him to figure out. But in the end, it only led him; the decision remains his. Joining the ranks of the disciples coming in and out of the tower, he entered through the gate to see a wide hall almost like that of a very advanced association. At the end of the tower, directly in front of him, there were two gates swirling with blue and red energy with engravings reading [Trial/Numbers 700-800] and [Floors]. Circling through the entrance and the gates were all kinds of receptionist counters, and in the middle were all kinds of seats for the disciples, with another set of the rankings coming down from the ceiling like screens in an airport. [This just might be the one you’re looking for.] Following the hint for the shortest line he had to wait in, Ken found himself face-to-face with a senior working as a receptionist in 5 minutes. Looking at the ’supposedly’ shortest line that still had a considerable amount of disciples waiting, Ken once again became grateful for his hints, as they helped him get this done sooner. "Welcome to the Ascension Tower, how may I help you?" The receptionist looked at Ken with a smile and asked. "I’d like to enter the trial gate." he said. "Your disciple token." She asked, and Ken immediately handed it over. "Very well, this is your number... Oh, 900, what a lucky fella. Please wait for the trial gate to allow you to enter, and that will be all." The receptionist handed the card to Ken, and he went to find a seat for himself with a small grin. "Next in line." With the receptionist calling the next disciple, Ken couldn’t help but look for the 901st. Seeing his expression as he took his card and walked out of the ’shortest’ line, Ken gave his hints a thumbs up in his heart. He quickly found a seat for himself and looked at the gloomy fellow next to him. Ken had gotten a chill for a second when he gazed at his eyes, and the latter, noticing someone looking at him, looked up and went straight back to being dazed. [Darek Shadowsmith, the heir to the renowned assassin and intelligence agency in the eastern lands, you’d probably make a good duo.] Ken raised an eyebrow to discover that he was sitting next to a top 10 in the ranking, and his mind wandered back to an idea he had that there should be a lot of disciples coming from some serious backgrounds on these lands. "Waiting for your turn too?" A question reached Darek’s ears. He looked up once again, turning to stare at Ken, who in turn was looking at the ceiling. "Are you talking to me?" He asked with a very hoarse voice, his dead fish eyes staring right at Ken’s soul. Ken looked back at him with a smile and said. "Yes. I’m talking to you." -----End-----