Inside the Jade Hollow Plains Conduit Tower.
Jiang Jianxin stood poised in the center of the Floor 3 chamber, her six swords orbiting her like loyal sentinels.
The violet crystals embedded in the walls pulsed with a restless rhythm, their glow intensifying as the timer ticked down.
She breathed in deeply, steadying her nerves. And her Sword Heart became a quiet anchor amidst the mounting pressure. The [Emergency Escape Talisman] rested against her chest, its faint warmth a silent promise of survival if the tide turned against her.
When she suddenly sensed a wave of warm ripple that flowed into her body, a flicker of surprise showed in her eyes.
"... What was that?" She glanced down at her body and then she noticed that something else popped up in her vision.
[Lesser Aura of Combat has been deployed through the Store Beacon]
[Effect: +5% Combat Effectiveness]
"Shopkeeper?" Lin Mo's face flashed in her head. The Divine Convenience Store's mystical abilities had once again awed her. "Perhaps, I can confide in him about the underground ruin…"
As her thoughts went there, the countdown for the next wave continued.
[Next Wave in: 3… 2… 1…]
Jiang Jianxin had no choice but to shelve that thought momentarily as the short reprieve ended for her.
The walls rumbled again, splitting open eight fissures and releasing the second wave.
Like the previous floors, the second wave shared similarities to the first wave creatures. This time, they looked bulkier. Their violet armor reinforced with spiked pauldrons and their serrated glaives were replaced by massive warhammers that glowed with a sickly purple hue.
Their energy pulsed stronger, teetering between late and peak Foundation Establishment Stage.
[Current Wave: 8 Violet Juggernauts]
Jiang Jianxin's lips curved faintly. "I see. This tower is at least sensible not to quickly jump from late to peak. The scaling doesn't follow our realm's convention, instead, this tower has its own power scaling for these creatures."
She raised her hand, and her six swords fanned out, their trajectories guided by her Sword Will.
The [Silent Moon Swordplay] flowed through her, refining her movements.
The Juggernauts charged, their hammers swinging in wide, earth-shaking arcs.
Jiang Jianxin evaded with minimal effort but with careful precision as her body became a blur of grace while her swords wove through the air.
One blade deflected a hammer strike, redirecting its force into the ground, while another sliced through a chink in the armor, shattering a crystalline joint. The third and fourth swords struck in tandem, carving a diagonal gash across a Juggernaut's chest. It staggered, and she finished it with a piercing thrust from her fifth blade, the sixth guarding her flank.
Thanks to the [Flying Sword Technique] the feedback from the heavy weight of those warhammers wasn't being transferred to her body. But even then, her Sword Will couldn't help but stagger with each deflection.
"... Mhm. I've been enlightened. They may radiate similar strength but they're extremely different from us. These creatures are born this way. Their strength relies on the abundance of energy they can harness."
Jiang Jianxin's silver-lit eyes narrowed as she adjusted her strategy mid-fight.
The Violet Juggernauts' reliance on raw energy made them predictable. They preferred brute force over finesse. However, their sheer power demanded respect even from her.
The [Lesser Aura of Combat] thrummed subtly within her body, sharpening her reflexes by that critical 5%. It was clearly not a dramatic shift, but against similarly strong opponents, every edge mattered. Not to mention they're annoyingly relentless, not allowing her to fully take up a stance before their hammers come swinging in her direction.
The remaining seven Juggernauts lumbered forward as their warhammers crashed down in synchronized arcs. It's like they didn't care if their attacks overlapped; all they had in their heads was to smash Jiang Jianxin's slender body.
The chamber trembled as stone cracked beneath their blows, sending shards flying.
Jiang Jianxin agilely danced through the chaos, her comprehension of the [Silent Moon Swordplay] unfolding like a crescent tide.
Her six swords moved as extensions of her will. Two parrying a hammer strike with a resonant clang, another slashing at a Juggernaut's exposed flank, carving through crystalline armor with a spray of violet sparks, hitting the core and shattering its body.
One down. She didn't pause to collect the essence, her focus locked on the tightening circle of foes.
The Juggernauts adapted to her movements as their swings grew tighter, more controlled. It was as if the tower itself was calibrating their aggression.
A hammer grazed her shoulder, the force rattling her bones despite the glancing blow.
Jiang Jianxin gritted her teeth, redirecting the pain into her Sword Heart, and retaliated. Her main sword flashed forward, piercing a Juggernaut's core while her orbiting blades severed its arm in a pincer strike.
"Five left," she sharply whispered despite the ache spreading through her arm.
The [Energy Replenishing Candy]'s effects lingered, keeping her spiritual reserves from dipping too low but she could feel the strain was starting to mount on her.
These weren't foes she could overwhelm with raw power. Precision and endurance would decide this.
She had been through enough duels throughout her life but this was the first time in a while that she had to push herself to the limits of her abilities.
The Ironclad Blood Sect Elder? He couldn't be called a stumbling block. Yet these foreign creatures made her take a better look at her current state.
She has yet to reach the limits of a Foundation Establishment Stage expert. She was still far from it. No matter how many praises she received, those were meaningless.
The Juggernauts roared, their guttural voices vibrating through the chamber as they charged as one.
Their hammers swung in overlapping arcs, a wall of violet energy bearing down on her.
They covered all of her retreat paths, forcing her to face them in a frontal assault.
Jiang Jianxin exerted her Sword Will further as her six swords weaved a defensive net.
Three blades attempted to intercept the hammers, redirecting their momentum, while the others struck the most vulnerable Juggernauts' chests. The sixth sword successfully slashed through its helm, collapsing it into motes of light.
As their numbers continued to dwindle, the pressure on Jiang Jianxin also gradually lessened.
The remaining four tightened their formation, their movements already growing clumsier by the second.
As she jumped back to create some distance, Jiang Jianxin looked at the timer.
[Remaining Time: 21:19]
She had time, but not much.
There's no way the Floor Guardian would be a breeze. She needed to conserve enough strength to face it.
Upon reconciling herself with that decision, she slapped the [Spirit Embodiment Sticker Seal] onto her wrist again, channeling spiritual energy into it.
A Spirit Mountain Crane materialized, its spectral wings flaring as it merged with her. Her speed surged, her swords gleaming with renewed vigor.
With a flicker of movement, she darted between two Juggernauts, her main sword slashing upward to bisect one while her orbiting blades pinned the other, shattering its core in a burst of violet light.
Two more and now, she had no more reason to hesitate.
She pressed the advantage, her swords striking in a relentless flurry. Parrying a hammer, severing a limb, piercing a chest and one more fell in rapid succession.
The last Juggernaut hesitated, its faceless helm tilting as if reassessing her.
Then, as if he was hit by a command to valiantly charge against her when even eight of them failed to take her down, he slammed his hammer into the ground, unleashing a shockwave of violet energy.
Jiang Jianxin leaped, her Spirit Mountain Crane-enhanced agility carrying her over the blast. Like a fairy gliding through the wind, she directed her swords downward. Four pierced through the Juggernaut's core, the fifth and sixth cleaving, ensuring that his hammer could never reach her.
The chamber fell silent, save for the faint hum of the violet crystals. Jiang Jianxin landed lightly, the projection of the Spirit Mountain Crane fading as her swords returned to orbit her. The 5% truly showed its prowess. If not, she would've been heavily injured at one point.
She exhaled, collecting the scattered Dimension Essence as the panel updated:
[Dimension Essence Earned: 640]
[Total Dimension Essence: 910]
[Current Wave: Cleared]
[Next Wave in: 15 Seconds]
She clutched her chest, feeling the [Emergency Escape Talisman] there.
"This is going to be my current limit… I shouldn't dream of the next floor…" Jiang Jianxin sat down in a lotus position as she made use of the short fifteen seconds, arming herself with the Card Talismans and recovering to her peak state.