Eternal Life Starts from Tai Chi

Chapter 358: Hesitation is Defeat

Yang Chan arrived before the high tower. Its many levels stacked one upon another to form the structure, and from its base, he couldn’t see the top, which soared into the clouds.

His own tall frame seemed utterly minuscule before it.

The closer he got, the more clearly Yang Chan could sense the tower’s vastness. It exuded a peculiar aura, similar to dense Spiritual Qi but mixed with something else that he found difficult to discern. However, this unique aura also put him somewhat at ease.

When Martial Arts Cultivation reached a certain level, one would develop a kind of premonition—an early warning that would only appear when danger was imminent.

Previously, back in the Cyan Yuan Sect, Yang Chan had never experienced such a feeling. But now, the closer he drew to the tower, the clearer it became. This was precisely why he hadn’t wanted to approach it.

He had originally thought it was guarded by a powerful Exotic Beast. After all, it was normal for great treasures to have guardians, so Yang Chan had simply given up on the idea.

Now, however, unable to find any other way out, he had come here. The source of his sense of danger was also clearer now: it wasn’t an Exotic Beast, but the tower itself.

If he had a choice, Yang Chan would definitely not enter. It certainly concealed some danger; otherwise, his premonition wouldn’t have been warning him constantly.

Therefore, as his gaze fell upon the tower’s great gate, his expression turned incredibly grave.

Ultimately, however, he strode forward. Having made up his mind, he would naturally not hesitate any longer.

Hesitation leads to defeat. An unsteady will would only compromise his future decisions.

Walking up to the tower’s entrance, Yang Chan tried to push the gate. He expected to have to use force, but to his surprise, the moment his hand touched it, the gate swung open on its own.

Through the doorway, Yang Chan could see the interior of the tower’s first floor. Apart from a stone statue placed in the center, it was completely empty.

He had actually examined the entire tower carefully on his way over. Each floor was roughly three to four meters high, and he could see a total of one hundred and forty-three floors.

If the tower had underground levels, the total number would be even greater. But for now, he could only see a staircase leading up, with none extending downward.

Of course, Yang Chan couldn’t rule out the possibility of hidden mechanisms that might reveal subterranean floors.

HUFF!

Yang Chan took a deep breath. He couldn’t see much by inspecting the tower from the outside. Only by stepping inside could he learn what it truly concealed—and whether it held a path for him to return.

In a place with no apparent exit, Yang Chan’s attention fell mostly on the Incomplete Seal in his hand.

It was this seal, after all, that had brought him to this strange space. The method of his arrival had been bizarre, as if a Void Gate had opened and sent him straight here.

And the only thing that seemed to affect the seal was this tower; nothing else had worked. Therefore, Yang Chan could only place his hopes on the Incomplete Seal.

With his mind made up, Yang Chan no longer hesitated. He took a step and entered the tower. As he did, after just a few paces, the gate behind him slammed shut.

Seeing this, Yang Chan didn’t rush to see if he could push it open, since there was no way out back there anyway.

He was carrying a bundle filled with the Spirit Medicines he had gathered along the way. Most of them were directly edible. After spotting the tower, he had made sure to gather even more.

Regardless of what problems the tower might hold, his first priority was to solve the issue of food and water. The Spirit Medicines conveniently fulfilled both needs, and the supply he carried would last him for some time.

Although the tower’s gate was closed, the interior did not grow dim. In fact, it was much brighter than the gloomy sky outside.

Faint light emanated from the smooth inner walls, illuminating the entire tower.

Yang Chan didn’t rush to investigate the upper floors. Instead, he walked to the center of the first floor and looked at the strange-looking stone statue.

After careful observation, Yang Chan recognized it as a type of Exotic Beast. At the base of the statue, however, were chains, making it look as though it was being suppressed within the tower.

This brought a term to Yang Chan’s mind: Demon-Suppressing Tower.

Although he had never seen a "demon" in the Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty, Exotic Beasts could, to some extent, be considered demonic creatures.

Compared to ordinary Fierce Beasts, Exotic Beasts were not only powerful but also possessed a degree of intelligence and could use Spiritual Qi for Cultivation, making them even stronger.

In this very region, Yang Chan had already seen beings stronger than himself.

’Could there be a living Exotic Beast sealed inside this statue?’

The thought popped into his head. He then used his powerful senses to investigate and only relaxed slightly after confirming there was no life force coming from it.

If a living Exotic Beast were sealed inside the statue, his situation would be even more dire.

Fortunately, it hadn’t come to the worst-case scenario.

Yang Chan walked a full circle around the first floor but found no mechanism leading downward. He couldn’t be entirely sure it didn’t exist, as the tower was filled with a peculiar power that interfered with his senses. It was either hidden too deeply...

Or there was simply no path down, only up.

Unlike most people, Yang Chan disliked doing things by the book. Following a conventional path meant treading a route someone else had laid out, which was never ideal.

You could never rule out the possibility that the other person had hostile intentions and was deliberately setting a trap for you.

Now, however, he had no choice.

Looking at the upward staircase, Yang Chan placed a foot on it and began to ascend slowly, one hand gripping the Long Sword at his waist, ready to strike at any moment.

The second floor was much like the first. In the center stood a statue of another extremely strange Exotic Beast he had never seen before. Other than that, the floor was empty.

Yang Chan glanced at the Incomplete Seal nestled in his robes. It was still pointing upward.

He conducted his usual inspection. Besides a faint increase in the density of the Spiritual Qi inside the tower, there were no other changes.

There was no sign of life whatsoever, and the faint sense of crisis he’d felt before had vanished as if it had been a mere illusion.

Even so, Yang Chan did not let his guard down.

He believed that danger was most likely to strike when you felt safest. An attack at that moment would meet the least resistance.

The complete absence of any threat in the tower was all the more bizarre. It meant that the danger was likely hidden in the shadows. He therefore needed to maintain his peak condition, so that when danger did appear, he could react instantly and handle any crisis.

To Yang Chan’s surprise, however, even after climbing one hundred floors, everything remained exactly the same. If not for the different Exotic Beast statues in the center of each floor, he would have suspected he was trapped on a single level.

Inside this sealed tower, he couldn’t see the scenery outside at all.

However, Yang Chan remembered that around the one hundred and thirtieth floor, the tower had windows. When he got there, he could use them to get a clear view of this space, and perhaps even the scene beyond the city walls.