Chapter 2: Apex Tower: Nine Empresses Shaking the Ages

Words : 2364 Updated : Mar 19th, 2026

"Fated one, welcome to the Apex Tower!" A voice steeped in endless solemnity thundered through Benson Santee's very soul. The towering spire before him was overwhelming, unlike anything he had ever seen. Before he could even react, the Apex Tower erupted with dazzling divine light. "Whoosh!" Benson vanished from where he stood. In the next heartbeat, he appeared inside an ancient temple. The temple's layout resembled a magnificent star-wheel, layer after layer spiraling outward. Most of its structures formed concentric rings. Benson's gaze locked onto the highest tier. A peculiar gate floated there. It was shaped like a circular wheel, like a portal that could pierce into another world. He stood on desolate stone steps. Far behind him, the horizon looked like ten thousand miles of yellow sand beneath a dying dusk. "Where is this?" "This is the first floor of the Apex Tower…" The same sacred, imposing voice spoke again. Benson's heart clenched. "Who are you? Who's talking?" "I am the Tower Spirit of the Apex Tower. I have waited here for a hundred thousand years…" Tower Spirit? A hundred thousand years? Benson's tension tightened like a drawn bowstring. The voice continued, unhurried and absolute. "Do not be afraid. Your blood splashed onto the altar and triggered the restriction. By a twist of fate, you became the first person in a hundred thousand years to enter this place." Benson didn't understand. The Tower Spirit went on. "The 'Primordial Ancestor' who created this tower entrusted me with a command. The first to step into the Apex Tower is destined to it. You will open the tower and become its new master." Benson froze. He lowered his head. Blood still seeped from his wound. It wasn't a dream. He swallowed and asked, "What can the Apex Tower do?" "The Apex Tower is one of the highest-ranked ancient divine artifacts in the universe. Its mysteries are endless. I cannot explain them all in a short time… If you wish to command the tower's power, you must first cultivate the Apex Technique." The Tower Spirit paused, then explained with quiet reverence, "The Apex Technique is the foremost of the universe's four strongest body-refining divine arts. It was created by the Ancestor himself. With the Primordial Ancestor's might, he shattered the heavens with one hand, filled the seas with a flick of his fingers, and with a laugh, could cut down sun, moon, and stars…" Shock spread across Benson's face. A fortune like this had fallen into his hands. How could he possibly refuse? "I want it…" Benson said, voice trembling with excitement. "I want the Apex Tower. I want the Apex Technique." "Good!" As the last word fell, the air exploded with brilliant silver shards of light. They glittered like fragments of countless stars, gathering toward a single point. Then an ancient, illusory scroll appeared in midair. "Shoo!" An invisible force pushed it forward. The scroll shot straight toward Benson's forehead. "Woom!" Chaotic energy rippled outward. Silver lightning patterns flared across his brow in thin, branching lines. "At the dawn of Apex, chaos was undivided. The Ancestor birthed the Great Dao, the Divine King forged an era. The Apex Technique, the strongest body-refining divine art under heaven. Those who cultivate it shall possess an Apex Body beyond the gods. Ten thousand laws cannot break it. Heaven and earth may be overturned, life and death seen through, the strongest power in the world grasped in hand." "First floor…" Strange streams of information surged through Benson's mind, then fused into his memory as if they had always been there. At the same time, a domineering force rolled through his body. His injuries began to mend on their own. Even the arrow lodged in his chest shattered and crumbled away, piece by piece, as if his flesh rejected it. "This is…" Benson's eyes widened, his heart pounding hard enough to hurt. "The Apex Tower is improving your constitution," the Tower Spirit said. Not long after, the transformation finished. Benson felt better than he ever had. Power flooded his limbs, spiritual energy brimming within him, as if he could fight for days without tiring. Even the lingering damage left behind when his Heavenly Phoenix Blood had been stolen was wiped clean. Benson clenched his fists, fire burning in his eyes. "Heaven hasn't abandoned me. Heaven hasn't abandoned me… Tenji Sword Sect, the Santee family, Luca Santee, George Santee. Everything you forced on me, I'll pay back in full." He drew a long breath, forcing down the storm in his chest, then asked, "You said this is only the first floor of the Apex Tower?" "Yes. The Apex Tower has eleven floors. Aside from the first and the last, the other nine floors each seal a woman…" the Tower Spirit replied. Benson stiffened. "A woman?" "Correct. But they are not ordinary women. Some are infamous, peerless demon queens. Some are unrivaled empresses who ruled the ages alone. Some are cold-blooded demonesses who could end worlds with a flick of a finger. Without exception, they are the most terrifying existences in this world." Benson's expression shifted again and again. A chill seemed to pour down from above. "Master need not worry. Those nine empresses and demon queens are restrained by seals. As long as the restrictions remain intact, they cannot harm you. On the contrary, you can obtain benefits from them…" "Oh?" Benson's eyes lit up. "What kind of benefits?" "Many. For example, the second floor seals the Night Queen. Her true form is a Six-Winged Demonic Dragon of the Dark Star. This blade was formed from a scale that fell from her body…" "And for example, the third floor seals the Empress Slayer, quick to anger and quicker to kill. The aura she releases condenses into a Spirit Pearl. By using this pearl, you can ignite the blood energy throughout your body for a short time, multiplying your battle strength by several times, even dozens of times." As the Tower Spirit finished speaking, two brilliant lights dropped before Benson. On one side was a black divine saber, medium in length, shaped like a razor-sharp dragon fang. Black lightning-like patterns flickered across the blade. On the other side was a blood-red pearl, about the size of a pellet, with magma-like blood energy flowing inside it. Benson reached for the black saber first. A cold that sank into the marrow surged out, and he nearly lost his grip. "What a vicious blade…" he murmured, shaken. The Tower Spirit explained, "The Six-Winged Demonic Dragon is a totem of the demon race. Its power is terrifying. This blade carries its spiritual force. It is a Demon Blade. Ordinary people cannot control it." Benson nodded slightly. Then he took the Spirit Pearl. The moment it touched his palm, scorching heat spread through his skin. A violent aura churned inside the gem. "A real treasure…" Light flashed in Benson's eyes. He closed his fingers around the Spirit Pearl and said, "Both of these carry enormous spiritual power. With my current strength, I'm afraid I can only control a portion of it." "Normal," the Tower Spirit replied. "Master has not yet begun cultivating the Apex Technique. Your foundation is still weak. Once the divine art is perfected and you become a true divine body, no evil in this world will be able to invade you…" After a brief pause, it continued, "From today onward, the Apex Tower will reside within Master's body. I will help you cultivate the divine body art as soon as possible." Benson nodded solemnly, cold light surging in his eyes. "I will. I still have a lot to do." … At that moment. Blackpeak. "Strange. Where did that trash Benson run off to? And the altar's gone too…" In the forest, George Santee and two others kept searching for any trace of Benson. One of them scoffed. "Relax. He can't be alive. He took Xiao Si's heart-piercing arrow, then ate your heart-shattering palm. He's dead for sure." George gave a small nod. "True enough. Let's head back to Moon City." Just as the three of them turned to leave for the Santee family in Moon City, a cold, severe wind howled out of the woods behind them. All three jolted and spun around. A familiar figure stood there. It was Benson. George's brows knitted. "You're not dead?" Then George bared his teeth in a grin. "If you weren't dead, you should've crawled into some doghole and stayed there. Coming out means you're here to die." "Whoosh!" George lunged again, closing the distance in an instant. He drove a fierce punch straight for Benson's throat. "With this punch, I'm breaking your neck." The force of it tore through the air. Benson didn't even try to dodge. He swung a black saber from behind him. "Clang!" The Demon Blade forged from the Six-Winged Demonic Dragon's scale met George's fist head-on. In the blink of an eye, George's hand split like a forked branch. Flesh and bone parted together. Agony flooded his body. George's eyes bulged. "What is this?" A scream followed, shrill enough to tear the forest apart. "Ahhh!" "Sorry," Benson said, a cold curl to his lips. "This time, you're the one who dies." He twisted his wrist, reversing his grip, and slashed for George's neck. "Hiss!" A flash of steel. George's scream cut off mid-breath. A thin red line appeared at his throat, then slowly widened as blood seeped out. "George!" The other two shouted, rage and terror crashing together. They couldn't comprehend it. Benson had just killed someone stronger than him. One of them yanked a dagger from behind his back and pounced like a wild beast. "You filthy bastard, I'll take your life!" Benson's face held nothing but contempt. Of the three, only George had reached the fifth level of the Body Refinement Realm. The other two were only at the fourth. A fight at the same level? Benson feared no one. "Clink!" The moment blade met dagger, the meaning of "cutting iron like mud" became brutally clear. The Demon Blade sheared straight through the dagger and mercilessly carved into the man's chest. The edge sank into flesh without the slightest resistance and tore out through his back. That single strike severed his upper body and shattered the line of his life. "Aah…" Blood sprayed, viciously bright. The archer's face drained of color. The back-to-back screams scared the soul right out of him. He stared at Benson, who had already cut down two men. Hands shaking, he fumbled to nock an arrow. Before he could loose it, a vicious gust slammed into his face. Benson's black Demon Blade had already reached his eyes…

Chapter 2: Apex Tower: Nine Empresses Shaking the Ages

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