Chapter 5: The Tower Within
The staircase to the Third Floor stood before him.
Li Jian stepped forward.
The moment his foot touched the first step—
The entire Dragon King Tower trembled.
A deep voice echoed through every level.
"Body insufficient.
Blood unstable.
Further ascent prohibited."
The staircase vanished.
The chamber shook violently.
Cracks spread across the walls as ancient energy surged wildly around him.
Li Jian clenched his fists.
"I'm ready."
But the tower did not respond.
Instead—
Blinding golden light engulfed him.
The world shattered.
Cold air hit his face.
Li Jian gasped as he found himself lying at the edge of Dragonfall Gorge.
Morning sunlight pierced through the trees.
Birds chirped.
As if nothing had ever happened.
He slowly sat up.
The abyss behind him was silent.
No light.
No tower.
No ancient presence.
It was gone.
For a moment, doubt crept into his mind.
Had it all been an illusion?
But then—
A strange pull echoed from deep within his mind.
Li Jian closed his eyes instinctively.
And what he saw made his breath stop.
Inside a vast golden space within his consciousness—
Floating above a sea of spiritual energy—
Was the Dragon King Tower.
Smaller.
Condensed.
But completely intact.
It rotated slowly, radiating ancient power.
A voice echoed softly within his mind:
"Tower integrated.
Host acknowledged."
Li Jian's heart pounded.
The tower… was inside him.
Not in the gorge.
Not in the world.
But within his very soul.
He instinctively tried to approach it in his mind—
And in the next instant—
His consciousness appeared inside the First Floor hall.
He could enter it at will.
But when he attempted to ascend toward the Third Floor—
The path remained sealed.
"Stabilize body. Strengthen vessel."
The message was clear.
He was not yet strong enough.
His physical body could not withstand deeper trials.
Li Jian opened his eyes.
A slow smile formed on his face.
Good.
That meant time was on his side.
Footsteps echoed nearby.
Two hunters from the village approached cautiously.
"Someone fell last night…"
"Impossible to survive…"
They froze.
Li Jian stood before them.
Alive.
They stared in disbelief.
"You… you're alive?"
Li Jian nodded calmly.
"Luck."
They sensed nothing unusual from him.
No overwhelming aura.
No breakthrough fluctuation.
Just the same Ninth Layer cultivator they remembered.
But inside—
Everything had changed.
His bones were denser.
His strength doubled.
His senses sharper.
And deep within his soul—
A tower slept.
That night—
Inside his small room in the Li Clan compound—
Li Jian sat cross-legged.
He closed his eyes.
Entered his consciousness.
The Dragon King Tower pulsed gently.
Golden energy flowed from it into his meridians.
His cultivation stabilized rapidly.
His dragon blood no longer felt wild.
It felt controlled.
Obedient.
Suddenly—
A faint golden dragon shadow formed behind him in the real world.
Just for a second.
Then vanished.
No one noticed.
Li Jian opened his eyes slowly.
For years, he had endured humiliation.
For years, he had been trapped beneath invisible limits.
Now—
He carried an ancient inheritance within his very soul.
And no one knew.
Not his clan.
Not his enemies.
Not the world.
He looked toward the distant mountains beyond the village.
"The abyss was not my end."
"It was my beginning."
Deep within his consciousness—
The Dragon King Tower pulsed once more.
As if agreeing.