As Zhou Tong was staring at Lin Dong, the latter also noticed and looked up. His sweat-covered face revealed a smile: "Finally caught up."
"Are you Lin Dong?"
In the empty seventh floor of the Symbol Master Tower, Zhou Tong stared at Lin Dong for a long time before speaking.
Lin Dong smiled and bowed slightly, his gaze sweeping over this most outstanding young symbol master from Tianhuo City. Although Liu Long's appearance was more handsome, there was an ordinary-looking figure that concealed formidable abilities not to be underestimated.
"This time, I misjudged you."
After the initial shock, Zhou Tong's voice returned to calmness. Regardless of any unexpected incidents, he had absolute confidence in his own strength. He believed that among the young generation of symbol masters in Tiandu County, only a few could surpass him. Although Lin Dong was somewhat unexpected, it hadn't reached the point where he would have to admit defeat.
"Brother Zhou Tong is too kind; I just got lucky to be here." Lin Dong laughed. He didn't feel much ill will towards Zhou Tong since they had just met. Perhaps there would be some mutual targeting, but that was merely due to their different factions.
"There’s no such thing as luck in the Symbol Master Tower. Your strength surpasses even Miss Zi Yue." Zhou Tong smiled faintly, paused, then continued: "However, this round of the tower battle, I must win this Symbol Master Tower for Tianhuo City."
"I will also do my best to keep the Symbol Master Tower for Flame City." Lin Dong smiled slightly, but his expression was exceptionally serious.
"Since that's the case, let's each rely on our own abilities. I hope you can once again exceed my expectations." Zhou Tong smiled faintly, then turned around without further conversation. He began to gather all his mental power from the Niyuan Palace to resist the pervasive mental pressure, taking heavy steps toward the central position of the seventh floor.
"Huff..."
When Zhou Tong moved again, Lin Dong also took a deep breath. The mental pressure on the seventh floor was much stronger than the sixth floor. Here, the spiritual energy was extremely viscous, walking through it felt like walking through a swamp, making it difficult to even breathe.
Looking at Zhou Tong's back, Lin Dong tightly pursed his lips. Although this heavy pressure made people extremely uncomfortable, he wasn't someone who was pampered. In his bones, he possessed a firm and stubborn nature. This could be seen from how he persisted every day in training his spirit power in the spirit mill despite the intense pain that even the mysterious little squirrel had lingering fear from. Yet Lin Dong endured day by day and gradually adapted to it.
Others might think his spirit power grew rapidly, but how could they know what sacrifices were made beneath that...
A vast amount of spirit power surged out from the Niyuan Palace, enveloping Lin Dong's body layer by layer. With great difficulty, he lifted his feet, which felt like they were filled with lead, and took slow steps forward.
"Dong!"
The low sound of footsteps echoed in the empty space within the tower. Each time this sound rang out, a pool of sweat would fall.
When hearing the heavy footsteps behind him, Zhou Tong's eyes twitched slightly but he did not turn around, maintaining silence as he took slow steps forward.
In the spacious seventh floor, two figures moved silently, one after the other, approaching the central position of the seventh floor with an extremely slow yet resolute pace.
Both of their personalities were very tenacious. Even though their muscles were sore under the immense pressure, they gritted their teeth and refused to stop.
A short distance of less than a hundred steps took them nearly half an hour...
"Pang!"
In the silence, a low sound suddenly rang out. Up ahead, Zhou Tong fell to one knee heavily. His hands pressed against the ground, supporting his body, his panting like a windmill.
At this moment, three steps away from Zhou Tong, the spiritual barrier leading to the eighth floor was visible. But these mere three steps seemed as unattainable as a chasm.
The closer to the center, the stronger the mental pressure became. Especially these last three steps, which were several times stronger than when they first entered. Just now, when Zhou Tong tried to take half a step, his body immediately collapsed, showing how terrifying the mental pressure was.
"Didi..."
Sweat gathered into droplets, continuously streaming down Zhou Tong's face. He opened his abnormally dry mouth, bit his teeth, resisted the terrifying mental pressure, slowly rose, and took another step forward.
"Bang!"
With this step, Zhou Tong's body sank slightly. His knees bent, trembling, clearly trying his best not to collapse again.
"The last two steps..."
Looking at the spiritual barrier within arm's reach, Zhou Tong felt a hint of helplessness for the first time.
"Dong!"
While Zhou Tong was gazing at the spiritual barrier within arm's reach, behind him came another heavy footstep. Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw a figure, reeking of sweat, appearing just one step behind him.
"This guy..." Seeing Lin Dong catching up step by step, Zhou Tong was quite shocked. He slightly tilted his head, fully recognizing this youth for the first time.
"Not bad, the Symbol Master Tower indeed has such strong mental pressure." Looking at Zhou Tong right in front of him, Lin Dong's voice was hoarse. As soon as he finished speaking, he clenched his teeth and took another step forward.
"Crack!"
As Lin Dong took this step, his body also sank slightly. There were some faint sounds coming from inside him, as if even his bones couldn't bear the pressure.
When his foot landed, Lin Dong's body trembled slightly. Then, with his teeth gritted, he stood up straight against the powerful mental pressure, under the astonished gaze of Zhou Tong beside him.
Standing up straight, Lin Dong's eyes focused on the spiritual barrier, a trace of stubbornness flashing across them. Master Yan had said that in the eighth floor, there was a gas-level spiritual secret technique. To obtain it, one must enter the eighth floor!
"I want to go to the eighth floor."
Hearing the hoarse laughter of the youth beside him, Zhou Tong's pupils contracted slightly, then he slowly shook his head: "Impossible!"
Indeed, it was impossible. Whether they could cross these final two steps was questionable, let alone the strong repelling force of the spiritual barrier afterward. Although he also wanted to break into the eighth floor, reality told him that with their current strength, it was indeed impossible to succeed!
"Unless you try, who knows?"
Lin Dong smiled, then said no more, and took another step forward!
"Pang!"
With this step, the mental pressure surged violently. Lin Dong almost instantly fell to his knees, his knees hitting the hard floor with a crisp sound.
Seeing Lin Dong almost unable to move under the mental pressure, Zhou Tong gave a bitter laugh, devoid of mockery because he knew that if he took this step, the outcome would be the same.
"Well, give up. Next, we'll see who can endure longer here." Zhou Tong said. Usually silent, he wouldn't normally say much, especially to his opponent, but he admired Lin Dong's perseverance.
"Haha, how can I give up like that? I want to go to the eighth floor."
Upon hearing this, Lin Dong, whose knees were pressed to the ground by the mental pressure, hoarsely laughed and then, under Zhou Tong's shocked gaze, shakily stood up again.
"Crack crack!"
When Lin Dong stood up, Zhou Tong could see that his skin was turning red, with drops of blood gathering at his pores, a sign of the unbearable pressure inside his body.
"This guy is crazy," Zhou Tong muttered helplessly upon seeing Lin Dong's madness.
"Pang!"
Just as his muttering ended, Lin Dong took another step forward. This time, the surging mental pressure directly pressed his entire body to the ground, and streams of blood spurted out from his pores.
Lin Dong's body trembled constantly. His eyes were full of bloodshot veins. He slowly raised his head and looked at the spiritual barrier within arm's reach, his eyes filled with an incredible stubbornness.
Then, under Zhou Tong's startled gaze, he trembled as he tried to stand up again.
"Shh!"
As Lin Dong slowly rose from the ground, his clothes were immediately stained with blood, and drops of blood dripped down his shirt, forming a pool of blood beneath his feet.
"Stop! The result is still undecided. If you keep forcing yourself, you will surely lose!" Seeing the shocking pool of fresh red blood in front of him, Zhou Tong took a deep breath and spoke softly. He couldn't understand why the youth in front of him possessed such perseverance.
Rather than calling it perseverance, it might be better described as obstinacy. Because the world in Lin Dong's eyes now was almost entirely focused on the spiritual barrier in front of him. His actions were somewhat reckless, but they carried a mountain-like will. And in martial arts cultivation, willpower was particularly important!
"Weng!"
As his body slowly straightened, Lin Dong's ears began to hum, and an intense pain spread throughout his brain. His vision began to blur, a sign that he had reached his limit.
"Weng weng!"
Lin Dong's vision became increasingly blurry. However, just as his vision was about to go dark, a peculiar humming sound emerged from the Niyuan Palace...
Inside the Niyuan Palace, the two innate spirit talismans, facing the immense mental pressure, suddenly twisted. Then, they automatically transformed into two spirit talisman vortices, slowly rotating.
The moment these two spirit talisman vortices appeared, Lin Dong suddenly felt that the powerful mental pressure permeating his body was quickly being sucked into the Niyuan Palace and completely devoured by the two spirit talismans!
The abnormality of the innate spirit talismans greatly reduced Lin Dong's pressure. Without hesitation, he took a sudden step forward and, under Zhou Tong's astonished gaze, stepped into the spiritual barrier!
"Weng weng!"
As Lin Dong stepped in, the spiritual barrier immediately erupted with an extremely terrifying mental fluctuation. This fluctuation directly exploded within the seventh floor, and Zhou Tong, who was nearby, was thrown back, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Landing awkwardly on the ground, Zhou Tong paid no attention to his internal injuries and quickly looked toward the spiritual barrier. Then, he froze as he saw Lin Dong's figure slowly disappearing into the spiritual barrier...
"Did he really... succeed?"
Watching Lin Dong's disappearing figure, even someone as strong as Zhou Tong took a deep breath, his eyes filled with disbelief and shock.
As Zhou Tong was shocked and incredulous about Lin Dong's disappearance from the seventh floor, outside the Symbol Master Tower, there was also a frenzy of excitement erupting.