Before the Sect Master's Residence had been upgraded, Yun Jin's bond with her three personal disciples had already reached its maximum.
But after the upgrade, the connection between them seemed to grow even stronger.
For example, with Su Lingling, Yun Jin faintly sensed that she now shared not only Su Lingling's Luck as the Heaven's Chosen heroine, but also her terrifying water-element affinity.
From Gao Jingxuan, she could feel the gift of teaching and nurturing talent.
From Ye Cheng, she gained his innate closeness to plants and vegetation.
At the same time, Yun Jin could selectively share some of her own abilities back with these three disciples. This kind of mutual sharing was far deeper than the connection she had with ordinary sect disciples.
Yun Jin speculated that such sharing likely required the bond to reach one hundred percent. Since her three disciples had long ago reached that full devotion to her, the sharing activated naturally.
If she were to accept a new disciple in the future, until their bond reached full value, this shared resonance would not occur. It was only a guess for now—one that she could test once she took on new disciples.
Regardless, this upgrade of the Sect Master's Residence brought her an unexpected joy. Her Emotional Value reserves were still abundant.
In the next instant, Yun Jin vanished from her residence and appeared before the Trial Tower.
The disciples standing nearby saw her and immediately bowed. "Sect Master."
Yun Jin nodded. "Do not enter the tower for now. Once everyone inside has finished and comes out, I have something to handle."
Something to handle?
At once, the disciples recalled the strange flashes of light earlier. Twice the Sect Master's Residence had blazed with white radiance. On the surface it looked unchanged, but they all knew it had undergone an earth-shaking transformation.
Now the Sect Master had come to the Trial Tower…
Could it be… that the tower would also change?
Their gazes grew bright with expectation.
Yun Jin didn't bother with mystery. She said calmly, "The current tower is too ordinary. I intend to give it a small upgrade."
Too ordinary?
The disciples were dumbfounded.
Among the three great sect structures, the Trial Tower was unquestionably the most powerful. Yet the Sect Master called it… ordinary? And she even meant to upgrade it?
If this word of hers spread outside, it would shake the entire world. To them, the Trial Tower was already a peerless treasure—but in her mouth, it was casually deemed unworthy. Truly, their Sect Master was terrifying beyond belief.
Yun Jin waited patiently until every disciple within exited the tower. Only then did she close its doors.
None of the disciples left. Instead, they crowded closer, trembling with excitement as they watched. The current Trial Tower could transform even a talentless failure into a genius.
If it was upgraded…
Wouldn't its effects become utterly monstrous?
Some who still had attempts remaining could hardly contain themselves, desperate to be the first to try it after its transformation.
Yun Jin herself was curious. She invested fifty billion Emotional Value into the upgrade.
A flash of white light surged once more. On the surface, the tower appeared unchanged. To see what the level-two tower offered, one had to challenge it again.
Yun Jin had already cleared the level-one tower, which closed to her thereafter. Now that it had advanced to level two, she could attempt the trial again. Her eyes lit up. Did this mean she could once more claim a Law-related reward upon clearing it?
If so, the gain would be extraordinary.
The disciples around her itched to enter, but none dared move until Yun Jin spoke. At last she smiled faintly, waved her hand, and the tower gates opened once more. "Go on."
Those who had no challenge attempts left could only sigh with regret. The others surged inside with eagerness.
Yun Jin, too, stepped into the tower at her own unhurried pace. The moment she entered the first floor, she immediately noticed changes. Previously, entering the first floor meant the trial began at once. This time, a prompt appeared.
[Choose your mode: Easy or Normal. Normal mode rewards are doubled compared to Easy mode.]
[Challenger has already cleared Easy mode. Only Normal mode is available. Confirm selection?]
Yun Jin's eyes flickered.
So Easy mode was the same as the old level-one tower. Now, level two offered an additional choice. Normal mode promised double rewards, though naturally at higher difficulty. What was clever was that the two modes had separate limits.
Each disciple would have three attempts per day in Easy mode, and another three in Normal. This meant that elite disciples could accelerate their growth at frightening speed. And there were likely more modes yet to come.
Yun Jin glanced at her system panel. Upgrading to a level-three tower would require two hundred billion Emotional Value.
The system hinted that level three would be the final form. By then, perhaps a "Hard mode" would appear. While she mused, another notification appeared.
[This challenge has four reward options:]
1. Gain cultivation base.
2. Increase soul realm.
3. Improve proficiency in a chosen technique.
4. Deepen comprehension of a chosen Law Fragment.
The fourth option, however, was greyed out.
Yun Jin frowned slightly.
So this time she couldn't choose a Law-related reward?
The tower soon explained.
[Detected: Challenger previously selected Law reward in Easy mode. Rewards cannot repeat. Please choose among the other three options.]
Since the rules were set, she didn't argue.
She considered carefully.
The first option, cultivation base, was pointless. Her realm was limited by her soul cultivation, and with the Mystic Codex in her possession, raising her cultivation was the easiest thing of all.
The second option—soul realm—was new, appearing only after the upgrade. It was tempting. The tower's power might elevate her directly to Mahayana, perhaps even Mahayana peak.
But Yun Jin's soul cultivation advanced constantly on its own. Reaching Mahayana peak was merely a matter of time. Did she really want to waste such a precious chance on mere speed?
Her gaze turned to the third option.
Improving proficiency in a chosen technique.
If she selected this, the technique might be pushed straight to perfect mastery. The question was: which technique was worthy enough to spend this reward on?
Suddenly, Yun Jin's eyes gleamed with inspiration. Without hesitation, she abandoned the trial and exited the tower. She already had an idea.