The Ode Tower was embedded in an old grayish-yellow wall. It was surrounded by narrow alleyways.
It was evening. The red rays of the setting sun shone into the alleyway and dyed half of it red. It dyed the door frame grayish-red as well.
Lu Sheng took a deep breath. He looked to the side. A group of black-skinned rats were fighting over the food scraps beside the garbage. They seemed to be fish bones that had been eaten clean.
"Hiss, hiss."
The rats were immediately frightened by Lu Sheng's gaze. They fled in all directions.
Lu Sheng averted his gaze. He looked at the entrance to the Ode Tower before him. This so-called Ode Pagoda, apart from the entrance, had no other traces.
"Are you going in? If you're not, please move aside. "Just as Lu Sheng was observing his surroundings and thinking about how he was going to enter …
A cold, hoarse woman's voice came from behind him.
Lu Sheng turned around. There were already two men and women in different attire standing behind him.
One of them looked like an old maidservant from an ordinary rich family. She looked to be in her forties.
The other man looked to be in his teens at most. He wore a short blue shirt embroidered with plum blossoms. He was neither a man nor a woman. He was rather handsome, and there was an air of uneasiness and dejection about him.
The two of them stood behind Lu Sheng, one in front of the other.
"Please go ahead." Lu Sheng made way for them.
Anyone could enter the Ode Tower. There was no restriction on age, status, or identity.
The old woman strode past Lu Sheng and entered the Ode Tower's door without hesitation.
After that, the handsome man stood in front of the door and hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth and stepping in.
Lu Sheng was in no hurry to enter. He recalled the information he had collected about the Ode Tower.
There were countless types of tests and tests in the Ode Tower. The patterns were never repeated. He did not know how it worked either.
However, all the Ode Towers shared a common characteristic. They could accurately select talented people with good potential, strong willpower, and values that were similar to those in Libra City.
Lu Sheng stood before the Ode Tower's door. He did not enter. He merely stared at the others who entered.
The door here only allowed entry and not exit. The moment everyone entered, they could see faint black ripples spreading out from within the door.
"No energy reaction, no mechanism sounds … This Ode Tower … looks like there's no way to calculate the pattern …" Lu Sheng saw that almost everyone here had made all sorts of preparations before striding into the Ode Tower.
Some of them were carrying big and small bags, some of them were wearing light clothes, some of them were carrying small accessories, and some of them even had beast companions.
After observing for more than four hours, Lu Sheng found nothing. After thinking for a moment, he also stood up.
He went to the door.
The Ode Tower's door was three meters tall and a meter wide. There were no patterns on the frame, only a small row of inscription-like text engraved on the top.
Lu Sheng identified it and realized that it was not the language of E. It was also not any language that he knew.
"Since I can't find the pattern, I can only try it myself."
Lu Sheng placed his hand on the frame and took a sudden step forward.
Puff.
As if passing through a layer of soap bubbles, a soft and moist film slid across his body.
Lu Sheng's eyes flashed, and then he passed through the frame completely.
The bustling hustle and bustle of the street instantly fell silent and disappeared without a trace.
What appeared before his eyes was an alley that was identical to the one before he entered.
The only difference was that the alley here was empty.
The walls on both sides were mottled with gray marks left behind by time. Some of the corners had even fallen off, revealing the grayish-white interior of the walls.
Lu Sheng patted the gray robe on his body. His current attire was no different from that of an ordinary scholar on the street.
The gray robe covered his knees, white trousers, and brown leather boots. A dark blue bag was tied around his body, and a small black bottle gourd hung from his waist.
Hanging small bottle gourds was a specialty of Libra City. It was meant to pray for peace and good luck.
The only difference was that Lu Sheng's hair had been cut short by himself. It was a rare short hair.
After standing in the alley and observing for a while, Lu Sheng vaguely noticed that this alley seemed to have existed for a very long time.
He walked to the alley's entrance and touched the hollow scratches on the wall.
These scratches seemed to have been made by some kind of sharp claws.
Traces of Devil Qi seeped into the scratches. The speed of corrosion was very slow.
'It's at least several thousand years old …' Lu Sheng came to a conclusion in his heart.
He walked out of the alley. Outside was a spacious, quiet, and messy street.
The shops on both sides of the street were empty. From afar, he could see through the windows that some of the shelves were covered in thick layers of dust. The ground was littered with broken rocks and some unknown black powder.
'This place …' Lu Sheng frowned. He had just come from Libra City's street. This place was very similar to the street, but there was an unfamiliar, ancient aura about it.
The subtle structures of many places were different as well.
A hazy fog drifted on the street. A slight cold wind blew through the entire street.
Lu Sheng walked slowly to the front of a shop and looked inside.
This was a shop that seemed to sell pastries. There were porcelain plates filled with pastries on the table. There was also a metal board that seemed to be a menu.
'What's this testing? Guts? 'Lu Sheng frowned and walked slowly into the shop.
"Who's there?!" Suddenly, a nervous female voice came from the dark curtains in the innermost part of the shop.
Lu Sheng shifted his gaze. His spirit had not sensed anyone here before this. He did not expect to hear a voice.
There seemed to be something that could interfere with one's senses in this place.
There was darkness behind the grayish-black curtains. Even with Lu Sheng's vision, he could not see what was inside.
"Who's there?!" The female voice came again.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" Lu Sheng asked slowly after a moment of silence.
The other party was speaking in the Language of E with a strange accent. He could understand it.
"Really? Can you really help me? "the woman asked hastily.
"If your request isn't too difficult, I think I can," Lu Sheng replied calmly.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then, she began to state her request.
"This … this city suddenly became like this one day. There were no signs. I was still buying flour from the mill at that time. It's a pity … "The woman sobbed as she slowly narrated the story.
"My husband … When I came back, I suddenly noticed that my husband had undergone some strange changes.
"It's a very strange change. A change that scares me!
That's why I'd like to ask you to go to the depths of the city center and bring my husband who's been hiding there. Please tell him that Na … Na Na has been waiting for him here … I don't care what he's become … "After the woman finished speaking, she slowly fell silent.
"I'll bring him there." Lu Sheng narrowed his eyes. He turned around and left.
After he left the shop, he glanced at the other shops. He was afraid that many shops on this street were hiding similar incidents.
After calming himself down, Lu Sheng had a vague feeling that this place was not built by Libra City. It was more likely that they were using this place as a testing ground.
As for the possible dangers, if he wanted to obtain something, he would naturally have to face the corresponding risk and price.
After leaving the pastry shop, Lu Sheng went straight through the streets and headed toward the city center. After crossing a few streets, he quickly entered a small garden square.
The square was surrounded by streets that led to different streets. A huge black creature that shone with a metallic luster stood in the middle.
The creature was waving its eight arms and turning its bald head 360 degrees as it looked around.
The creature's upper body was that of a human, and its lower body was that of a huge ball. Its movements were completely reliant on the rolling of the ball. Heavy rumbling sounds could be heard from time to time.
As soon as Lu Sheng stepped into the square, he was discovered by the huge creature that was more than ten meters tall.
The creature's black eyes swept over him like lanterns and stared at Lu Sheng.
"If you want to pass through this place, you must answer a question of mine …" The creature's voice was as deep as thunder. The rumbling reverberated in the air above the square.
"What's the problem?" Lu Sheng probed with his spirit and carefully touched his surroundings.
The gray fog was absorbed the moment his spirit came into contact with it. The stone bricks on the ground also had a strange effect of blocking off probing.
"Many people have come here to answer my questions, but very few of them can satisfy me," the creature said in a deep voice. "If I'm not satisfied with your answer within the span of 50 breaths, I'll eat you and wait for the next one."
"Understood. Please go ahead. "Lu Sheng nodded.
He had a rough idea what this creature was. It must be one of the trials set up here to stop the test-takers.
The creature shook its head.
"My question is, can you count how many arms I have?"
It waved its long arms, which produced faint vibrating sounds. Its arms danced in the air, and whistling sounds could be heard.
Lu Sheng counted carefully.
"Eight arms," he answered seriously.
"Are you sure? Take a closer look! "the creature continued to ask.
Lu Sheng hesitated for a moment, then counted again.
"… Then … four arms?" He felt that half of the creature's eight arms seemed to be hands, which did not seem like arms.
"Are you sure?" The creature waved its arms faster and faster. Faintly, its six arms were becoming translucent and invisible.
"Then … it's two?" Lu Sheng felt unsure again.
"Take another look!?" Another two arms popped out of the creature's body and waved wildly.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh …
The whistling sounds of the arms waving became more frequent.
"Four?"
"Take another look?" Another two arms popped out of the creature's body.
"Six?"
"Take another look?" Four new arms joined the creature's body and started waving.
"Ten?" Lu Sheng was expressionless.
"Hahahaha, unfortunately, guess …" Boom!!!
There was a loud explosion.
Lu Sheng punched forward at lightning speed. In an instant, one of his arms pierced into the creature's head. A large number of cracks spread from his palm to the creature's entire body.
"Yes, I guessed correctly." Lu Sheng's expression did not change as he slowly pulled his hand out.
"Don't ask such a stupid question next time." He leaped forward lightly and landed on the ground.
Behind him, a large number of black metal fragments fell and smashed on the ground of the square, making loud noises.
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