At this moment, every person gathered at the Tower of Stolen Gold, whether they were the countless mundane immortals, the somewhat famous elegant immortals, or the senior experts from the various secret realms of the Twin-Pole Celestial Domain—each and every one of them—was tilting their heads back, eyes wide, staring at the tower. Their expressions were filled with nothing but shock, astonishment, disbelief, and utter bewilderment.
They all knew about the wager between this self-proclaimed Grandmaster nouveau riche and the trio of Xuan Yun, Bai Yufei, and Liu Feng—the bet was whether this upstart could successfully ascend to the Tower of Stolen Gold's Twenty-Seventh Layer.
To be honest.
If Mu Lingyao, Xuan Yun, and the others hadn't made such a huge fuss about this matter today, almost no one would have paid any attention to this wager.
In everyone's view, this nouveau riche simply could not ascend to the Twenty-Seventh Layer of the Tower of Stolen Gold.
The reason was simple.
Although this upstart was mysterious and had, back on Floating Sky Island, used some unknown, unorthodox method to scare four Great White Golden Immortals to death,
challenging the Tower of Stolen Gold relied not on one's personal cultivation strength, nor on some heaven-defying magic treasure, nor even on unorthodox methods. It relied on comprehension, knowledge, and divination ability.
Most importantly, the Tower of Stolen Gold had a high luck factor, and its variables were so great that no one could know for sure which layer one would reach after entering.
Furthermore, the bet was on the Tower's Twenty-Seventh Layer—a height that was by no means insignificant. Forget those mundane immortals with average aptitude, forget those elegant immortals with decent comprehension; even the senior experts present, with their vast experience and centuries of cultivation, could only look at the Twenty-Seventh Layer from afar, unable to reach it.
So what did this nouveau riche have to rely on?
He had no cultivation to speak of.
No heaven-defying fortune.
No refined demeanor.
No imposing aura.
He lacked everything. His speech and conduct were exaggerated to the extreme, claiming that ascending to the Twenty-Seventh Layer was as easy as child's play, and that even reaching the ultimate Nine-Nine Eighty-One Layer would be a breeze. Someone who could utter such outrageous boasts, even if his mind wasn't deranged, was likely an ignorant fool who didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth.
How could he possibly be some Grandmaster? Taking ten thousand steps back, even if he really were a Grandmaster, he probably wouldn't dare guarantee he could definitely ascend to the Tower of Stolen Gold's Twenty-Seventh Layer.
No one was optimistic about this self-proclaimed Grandmaster nouveau riche. Many believed that if he entered the tower, he'd probably be eliminated on the second layer.
However.
No one had expected that when this upstart stood before the Tower of Stolen Gold, not only was he not eliminated on the second layer, but he soared upward unimpeded, actually reaching the tower's Twenty-Second Layer in one go. It was simply unbelievable to the eyes.
It was truly soaring upward, smooth sailing all the way.
It really was like that.
When others challenged the Tower of Stolen Gold, they were always cautious and focused intently on divination, not daring to be distracted in the slightest, because the tower's formations were constantly shifting and changing. Once distracted, the divination would fail completely.
But what about this nouveau riche?
Since entering the tower, he had been neither cautious nor focused.
He truly hadn't been. Everyone saw clearly that while challenging the tower, this upstart remained leisurely and carefree, casually popping Great Law Yi Jing Marrow-Refining Pills, smoking spirit cigarettes, and occasionally pulling out a wine gourd to take a sip.
He gave the impression not of someone in the Tower of Stolen Gold, but more like a tourist sightseeing from the tower—and a bored one at that.
Yet it was precisely this sightseeing tourist who, after entering the tower, broke through layer after layer, reaching the Twenty-Fourth Layer in the blink of an eye.
This couldn't help but provoke deep suspicion.
What was he relying on?
Luck?
No!
Absolutely impossible.
Everyone knew that luck alone couldn't get one to the Tower of Stolen Gold's Twenty-Fourth Layer.
If not luck, then what?
Could his comprehension truly be extraordinary?
His spiritual sense immensely powerful?
His divination skills unparalleled?
But the problem now was that he didn't seem to be performing any divination at all. Each time he ascended a layer, he just stood idly by the edge, waiting boredly. When the layer's formation condensed and manifested, he would casually select one of the formations. Without the slightest hesitation, he'd step onto it and then appear on the next layer. It was as if he already knew exactly which formation among them led to the next floor.
How was this possible!
How did he do it?
No one knew.
No one had any idea.
They only knew that the nouveau riche was breaking through the Tower of Stolen Gold layer by layer: the Twenty-Fifth Layer, the Twenty-Sixth Layer... Finally, his figure appeared on the Tower of Stolen Gold's Twenty-Seventh Layer.
The entire scene erupted in an uproar.
No one dared believe this sight was real.
Especially Huadiexianzi, Mu Lingyao, Qiānlíng, and the others found it even harder to believe. They had always thought Gu Qingfeng's mind was a bit off, not quite normal; otherwise, he wouldn't have spouted such outrageous boasts.
But now.
Having witnessed with their own eyes Gu Qingfeng ascend to the Tower of Stolen Gold's Twenty-Seventh Layer, they might still not know whether his mind was truly problematic or if he was actually sane, but one thing they did know: Gu Qingfeng had not been boasting.
Ascending to the Tower of Stolen Gold's Twenty-Seventh Layer really was as easy as child's play for him. Smoking spirit cigarettes, popping spirit fruits, sipping little drinks—just like that, casually and effortlessly, he had ascended to the Tower of Stolen Gold's Twenty-Seventh Layer.
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, no one would have dared believe it. Even now, witnessing it firsthand, the crowd still found it utterly bewildering.
Gu Qingfeng's ascent to the Tower of Stolen Gold's Twenty-Seventh Layer was unbelievable and bewildering for Huadiexianzi and the others, but for Xuan Yun, Bai Yufei, and Liu Feng, it was more than just unbelievable and bewildering—it was a kind of despair.
It was like a gamble they were absolutely certain to win had somehow, inexplicably, been lost. Lost inexplicably, and lost with utter despair.
The immense contrast between before and after made it impossible for them to believe, and their hearts could not accept such a cruel reality.
Initially.
Before the Tower of Stolen Gold opened, the three had made the bet with Gu Qingfeng purely out of jealousy and resentment, wanting to seize the opportunity to show off and, most importantly, to make Gu Qingfeng lose face.
Later, after Mu Lingyao had publicly humiliated them, the three decided to use this wager to crush Mu Lingyao's arrogant demeanor.
It wasn't that the three hadn't considered what to do if Gu Qingfeng actually managed to ascend to the Tower of Stolen Gold's Twenty-Seventh Layer, especially Xuan Yun. He had thought about this problem and had been deeply worried about it. Gu Qingfeng's calm and composed demeanor had left him feeling unsettled.
However, when Mu Lingyao stepped forward, made every effort to stop, trying to void the bet, the worry in Xuan Yun's heart gradually dissipated. And the more fiercely Mu Lingyao tried to stop, the less worried he became. In the end, when Mu Lingyao falsely claimed Gu Qingfeng was mentally unstable, the worry in Xuan Yun's heart vanished completely.