Chapter 535: Shock and Horror! IV
Outside of the Tower of Life.
A radiant obsidian pillar rose beside the massive verdant doorway. Its surface glead with verdant-gold light separated into one hundred distinct square sections, each representing a floor within the Tower of Life.
This was the Observation Pillar. It allowed those outside to witness the progress of entities currently attempting their evaluations…tracking their advancent through visual representation that made every floor’s activity visible to external observers.
Many blinking dots of light populated the higher floors. The twentieth through thirtieth floors showed considerable activity…dozens of verdant circles representing Living Lives currently pushing through those levels with varying degrees of success. Even up to the fiftieth floor, scattered lights indicated beings attempting to reach heights that only exceptional candidates ever achieved.
But each ascending floor showed fewer and fewer blinking lights. The attrition rate was dramatic…what began as hundreds attempting lower floors dwindled to re handfuls at elevated heights where pressure and other challenges beca truly overwhelming.
Because for higher floors, it wasn’t rely Haki but also Entities and other wonders one had to get past!
Xar’vantheon’s focus remained fixed on the display of the first floor. A single green marker had just appeared, freshly manifested as the newest candidate entered the Tower’s evaluation system.
This was Achilles.
A smile crossed the Guardian’s features as he observed the stationary dot. His verdant eyes glead with anticipation for what this particular candidate might achieve, what rankings this Young Living Life might claim.
Another Living Life approached to stand near him. The being’s teal radiance suggested he was one of those Xar’vantheon had spoken with earlier, soone familiar with the Guardian’s duties and curious about his latest find.
“So.” The newcor’s tone carried casual interest. “What are your expectations for this one? How far do you think he’ll reach?”
Xar’vantheon considered the question with thoughtful expression. His gaze remained fixed on the blinking green marker that hadn’t yet begun moving across the first floor’s display.
“Honestly? I’m not entirely sure.” His admission was frank, without false confidence. “He registered as Second Circle Minor, which suggests decent foundation. His inclination toward our authority felt genuine when I encountered him outside the Sanctuary.”
He paused, calculating.
“If he can make it to the rankings within the top one thousand of the first floor, second floor, and even third floor…” His smile widened slightly. “I may have just struck it rich. The Living Contribution Points from bringing in a candidate who performs that well would be substantial…more than enough to purchase the Sacred Life Herbs I’ve been coveting.”
The teal-radiant Living Life nodded with understanding. Everyone here knew the value of identifying promising candidates, the rewards that ca from successful recruitnt.
On the display before them, the blinking green light remained positioned on the far left side of the first floor. The visual representation was straightforward…when the marker reached the far right of the display, it would indicate the candidate had entirely crossed that floor’s distance and reached the ascending stairs.
The verdant circle representing Achilles stayed stationary. Seconds passed without any visible progress, the light remaining firmly fixed in its starting position.
Xar’vantheon’s smile began to fade. His brow furrowed slightly as concern crept into his expression.
Was the pressure too much? Had Achilles’s inclination toward Life been less compatible than initial observations suggested? Sotis candidates froze upon entering the Tower’s evaluation…overwheld by the concentrated Haki pressing down around them, unable to adapt quickly enough to begin aningful progression.
He opened his mouth, about to voice his worry…
When suddenly…
…!
The stationary blinking verdant circle exploded into motion.
It didn’t gradually accelerate or slowly build montum. One instant it was completely still, the next it transford into a blinding green line shooting across the display from left to right with velocity that made Xar’vantheon’s eyes widen in shock and stupor.
“What in the-” The teal-radiant Living Life beside him shook his head incredulously. “Is that… is the display malfunctioning?”
Because at this mont, they were observing sothing that defied conventional understanding of how Tower evaluations progressed. The verdant circle of light had beco a streak, a line of brilliance racing across the floor’s representation with speed that suggested complete absence of resistance.
And instead of slowing down as it progressed….as logic dictated it should, given that the Solidified Haki of Life beca exponentially more intense the further one traveled across each floor…
The marker actually accelerated.
It beca faster as it advanced, the green line blurring with velocity that transford observation into barely-trackable phenonon.
So much so that in a matter of seconds, less than ten heartbeats, it had crossed from the left side to the right side. The marker smashed into the representative doorway at the far right with impact that seed to shake the entire display.
Ten seconds.
Ten seconds to cross the entire first floor.
BOOM!
A blinding verdant-gold light erupted from the first floor section of the actual Tower of Life. The luminosity was so intense it drew every eye near the structure…cultivators ditating nearby looked up in shock, beings floating on distant mountains turned their attention toward this phenonon.
It felt like a blinding green-gold sun had suddenly risen from the Tower’s base. The radiance pulsed outward in waves that carried implications even those unfamiliar with evaluation chanics could recognize as significant.
Xar’vantheon’s body trembled. His hands shook as he stared at the display showing the rankings…the list of nas inscribed in order of achievent for first floor completion during initial evaluation.
A radiant na appeared at the bottom of the one thousand displayed rankings. It began ascending upward with montum that seed unstoppable, climbing through positions with rapidity that made tracking its progression difficult.
Nine hundred. Eight hundred. Seven hundred.
The na continued rising, toppling established records with each passing instant.
Five hundred. Three hundred. One hundred.
Rapidly. Gloriously. Succinctly.
The na reached the top ten, then top five, then…
It claid the number one position.
Achilles Adrastia.
First place on the first floor’s all-ti rankings for initial evaluation!
But what was even more shocking…what caused jaws to literally drop among the observers who had gathered to witness this phenonon, was what happened next.
The blinking verdant-gold circle that represented Achilles now appeared on the second floor’s display. It materialized at the very entrance, the marker pausing montarily as if the candidate was taking in the grander atmosphere and increased pressure of this elevated level.
Then…
The circle exploded into motion again.
It shot from left to right across the second floor’s display with the sa impossible velocity. No gradual acceleration, no visible struggle against the overbearing pressure that should have been pressing down with force exponentially greater than the first floor.
He was shooting across as if there wasn’t any resistance whatsoever.
The Living Lives nearby felt their jaws opening wide enough to taphorically smash onto the floor. Horror mixed with disbelief painted their features as they witnessed the impossible.
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