Chapter 52: The Raid on the Second Floor Concludes, Imminent Attack!

Shang Hao was at the very front of the formation, bearing the brunt of the onslaught from the ice-plain eagles.

Even so, his gaze would drift toward Shang Yana every now and then.

Unlike the others, Shang Hao was a surname-granted genius cultivated by the Shang family. Only those who demonstrated exceptional performance were bestowed the family surname.

If it were the domineering and formidable eldest miss, Shang Zijin, outsiders like them would never dare harbor any inappropriate thoughts.

However, the gentle and fragile Shang Yana was entirely different.

Possessing sweet features, a humble demeanor, and a complete absence of any aristocratic airs, she was the idealized, flawless maiden of one's dreams. After spending a long time in such close proximity, any man would inevitably develop unusual feelings for her.

Initially, Shang Hao harbored no particular grievances against Li Yao.

The guy had decent strength, spoke very little, and was introduced by Lady Zijin herself.

More importantly, interacting with him provided Shang Hao an opportunity to display his captainly demeanor and thereby win the favor of little Ya.

Yet, upon glancing backward just moments ago, the scene that met his eyes almost caused him to lose his grip on his shield.

The two of them had their heads practically pressed together.

And this was inside a dungeon, with other people all around them.

What would happen if nobody was around?!

What stung with jealousy the most was that, from the looks of it, it seemed like little Ya herself had actively leaned in closer?

Are you kidding me?

When has little Ya ever leaned that close to any man?

Consequently, Shang Hao had immediately spoken up to interrupt Li Yao.

Li Yao saw right through the other man's petty intentions.

Without a word, he simply cast a nonchalant, fleeting glance at him.

Shang Hao was about to say something more when that single look sent a sudden chill down his spine, startling him into silence.

Li Yao had not deliberately tried to intimidate the man; he simply couldn't be bothered to argue with a mere passerby.

However, the entities Li Yao usually faced were monsters of a completely different caliber, such as the Goblin King and the Tongue-Ripping Empress.

The former was a nightmare-tier final boss, while the latter was an infernal-tier lord. The aura they exuded was far beyond what ordinary monsters could ever compare to.

By fighting and ultimately hunting such beings, Li Yao's own presence and aura had gradually begun to align with these apex predators.

Professionals of Shang Hao's tier, let alone soloing a boss, would find themselves having to exercise extreme caution even when facing an elite monster alone.

Faced with Li Yao's gaze, his body's instincts had instinctively triggered a dangerous warning signal.

"In any case, stop slacking off. If you want to chat, save it until after we've dealt with these beasts."

Damn it!

Why did this guy give off a feeling even more terrifying than the boss-tier monsters they had encountered previously?

Shang Hao thought to himself.

To avoid losing face in front of Shang Yana, he turned around and threw himself back into the battlefield.

"Li Yao..."

Shang Yana lightly tapped Li Yao on the arm.

Li Yao turned his head back.

Shang Yana brought her hands together in a pleading gesture.

Knowing why Shang Hao had spoken rudely to Li Yao, she blamed herself for the incident and asked for Li Yao's forgiveness.

"No big deal."

Li Yao waved his hand dismissively.

"That lookout tower dungeon you mentioned earlier—where is its location, and what level is required to enter?"

"Student Li Yao, you are so easygoing!"

"It's right in Qinghai City. Since it's a solo dungeon, there's no level restriction, but I'd still suggest that Student Li Yao wait until after level 30 before going."

In Shang Yana's eyes, Li Yao was the kind of extraordinary professional who could effortlessly trample difficulties!

Solo-clearing a nightmare-tier dungeon at level 30 should pose virtually no problem for him!

"Alright, I understand."

Neither Li Yao nor Shang Yana paid any mind to Shang Hao's accusation about "slacking off."

Under normal circumstances, given Shang Yana's personality, she would have pitched in to help hunt the monsters regardless of whether she had completed her own kill quota.

But now, Li Yao was right beside her.

As an esteemed guest of Lady Zijin, she naturally wanted to stay close and keep him company.

An hour later.

The ice-plain eagles drawn in by the glacial storm were finally cleared out by the group.

Halfway through, when the Azure Bird's mana had dropped below the halfway mark, Li Yao had instructed it to deactivate [Glacial Storm] and conserve its mana for any unexpected contingencies.

As a result, both Shang Mingxu and Shang Qian assumed that Li Yao had been coasting through the fight in the background.

And what's more, dragging little Ya along to slack off with him!

All three of them were breathing heavily. So many monsters attacking all at once proved somewhat overwhelming, even for them.

Shang Hao glanced at Li Yao, said nothing, let out a cold snort, and then opened the passageway leading to the third floor.

Li Yao followed the others into the passageway.

At the same time, he checked the Void Mantis's stat panel and nodded in satisfaction.

Over three hundred points of strength gained—not bad at all!

Hunting more than three hundred ice-plain eagles yielded far more than the combined total of the others' kills, especially when factoring in the damage dealt by the Azure Bird.

Accuse him of slacking?

Never mind; there were still three floors left. They would finish this quickly and then focus entirely on completing the second-transition trial.

The environment of the third floor was a vast desert.

The monsters here were 25th-tier ordinary creatures called lion ants. Their numbers were enormous, but their individual strength fell short even of the ground-crawler crabs on the first floor.

Each person needed to eliminate two hundred of them to advance to the fourth floor.

As Li Yao hunted alongside the others, his mind was already turning elsewhere.

Only starting from the fourth floor could this truly be considered the Tower to the Heavens.

The first three floors were merely hunting grounds designated for ordinary professionals; after the fourth floor, the elite monsters that appeared made it exceedingly difficult for typical professional teams to survive.

If the Yan family truly intended to launch an ambush, it would undoubtedly happen beyond the fourth floor.

The sixth floor was out of the question as well, because during the second-transition trial, the Tower to the Heavens possessed a chance of isolating professionals into independent spatial dimensions.

Should danger arise, Shang Yana could easily use a teleportation item within her independent space to escape.

So, would it have to be the fourth or fifth floor?

To assassinate the second miss of the Shang family, whoever the Yan family dispatched certainly wouldn't be weaklings.

He just wondered:

If such people met their doom here in the Tower to the Heavens, would the Yan family feel the sting of the loss?