Chapter 907: Entering the Seventh Floor

The sixth floor was even more spacious, and the walls were covered with various formations.

When Saint-level experts fought, their power was boundless, and any leakage could easily cause disaster. With formations reinforcing the area, it was different—those who entered could fight freely without restraint, allowing them to better unleash their strongest combat strength.

Approaching and looking toward the center, they expected to see a puppet lying on the ground, either severely injured or shattered, as in the previous five levels. But this time, that was not the case.

A puppet was sitting cross-legged not far away, its aura like a sharp sword, emitting a bone-chilling coldness.

“Isn’t the sixth floor supposed to have a Saint-level initial puppet? How… does it not look like it?”

“It doesn’t look like it; it seems stronger!”

“Aren’t puppets fixed in strength and unable to cultivate? How can they become stronger?”

…

Seeing this creature, everyone’s brows twitched.

With their eyesight, they could easily tell that this puppet’s actual strength had already surpassed the shackles of Saint-level initial and reached the middle stage!

But… wasn’t the sixth level always at the initial stage? When did its cultivation increase?

Puppets were machines, works of artifice. Even if they had spirituality, they were just a pile of tools… they couldn’t cultivate. If they couldn’t cultivate, how could their strength increase?

“Could it be… this thing killed the dean?”

Someone said this, and everyone’s bodies stiffened.

In the previous levels, the dean had passed easily, and the puppets were easily defeated. But in this level, the puppet’s strength had suddenly increased, and the dean had not returned. Could it be that he was killed before he could react?

If that were true, they would be sinners in history.

“Where is the person who came to challenge the mountain a day ago?”

Unable to hold back any longer, Zhao Bingxu took out his elder token and asked hurriedly.

“The challenger? You mean Master Zhang! I have already taken him as my teacher and become his subordinate puppet. What business do you have with my teacher?”

The puppet quickly stood up and said with a smile.

“Taken him as teacher…”

“Subordinate puppet?”

Zhao Bingxu, Elder Mi, and the others’ eyes went dark, and they nearly collapsed.

The dean could make people take him as teacher, could make beasts and sacred artifacts recognize him as master—they could tolerate that, since there were precedents. But making a puppet take him as teacher? What was that about?

Although this thing could speak human language and had spirituality, it was still a machine. Its memories and knowledge were instilled. Taking a teacher… to learn what?

“Yes, originally I was blocking the teacher and about to fight, when he suddenly discovered an obvious flaw in my forging process and helped correct it… With a simple fix, my strength increased by a level. Someone so skilled naturally deserves to be my teacher!”

Seeing everyone’s confusion, the puppet quickly explained.

“Flaw in the forging process?”

The dean of the School of Artifice twitched his mouth: “Since when… is the dean also proficient in the art of artifice?”

So many master teachers had come to challenge the mountain over the generations, and none had spotted the problem. The dean not only pointed it out upon arrival but also fixed it… His understanding of the artifice profession was at least as strong as his own!

This… was there any profession the dean didn’t know?

“Mm, Master Zhang is my teacher. He went to the seventh floor a day ago. If you want to find him, go on up…”

The puppet nodded.

“Let’s go!”

Knowing that this creature had already taken the dean as teacher and would naturally not block them, everyone headed toward the seventh floor, following the records left by Dean Mo Liuzhen.

The puppet on this floor had strength at the Saint-level late stage. They wondered what Master Zhang would encounter and whether he was in danger.

“I’ve read Dean Mo Liuzhen’s notes, which record his experience on the seventh floor. It was extremely dangerous, with death imminent. Fortunately, he broke through on the spot and won.”

As they ascended, Zhao Bingxu said with a grave expression.

Dean Mo Liuzhen had left notes recording his experiences when challenging Record Mountain.

The reason he could reach this floor at the initial Cocoon Seal stage was not purely due to strength but also luck. If he hadn’t broken through by chance, he might not have broken the record but could have been severely injured or even died.

As Record Mountain rose higher, the puppets grew stronger, and their power became harder to control, easily leading to unpredictable situations.

The dean had entered here a day ago and not returned. Could he be facing such a situation?

“I truly admire the dean’s strength, but the Cocoon Seal stage is still too low. Crossing nearly three major levels to challenge a Saint-level late-stage expert—the chance of victory is too slim!”

“Yes, over the years, I’ve seen many war masters, but I’ve never seen anyone cross nearly three major levels to fight and win!”

“If even war masters can’t do it, how can the dean?”

Thinking of the terror of the seventh-floor puppet, everyone grew more worried.

Although war masters were also a type of master teacher, they were actually quite different, similar to the military, used to protect humanity and uphold the authority of the Master Teacher Hall.

Because of this, war masters emphasized combat strength and did not cultivate auxiliary skills. They did not teach or nurture students; as long as their strength was sufficient, they could be rated.

Compared to teaching, other professions were certainly insignificant, but in terms of combat strength, almost no one could match them.

Even such people found it difficult to cross nearly three major levels and win in battle, let alone an ordinary master teacher.

Full of worry, everyone arrived at the seventh floor.

It was even more spacious here. Pushing open the door and entering, unlike the compactness of the previous floors, it felt somewhat desolate.

Various defensive formations reinforced the surroundings. In the middle of the vast hall, there was no sign of anyone, leaving them puzzled.

No puppet, no signs of battle. Could it be that the dean didn’t fight here?

“No? What is that?” As if noticing something, Elder Mi pointed to a corner not far away.

Everyone looked together and immediately saw a pile of broken parts on the ground.

“It’s a puppet… smashed to pieces!” The dean of the School of Artifice approached, his mouth twitching involuntarily.

Each of these puppets in Record Mountain was composed of tens of thousands of parts, intricate and complex. The one before them had clearly been forcibly shattered, restored to its original state.

“Could this be the guarding puppet, already beaten like this?” Elder Mi’s gaze was dull.

Defeating the puppet was already difficult enough. Smashing it into this state… how strong must one be?

“It should be…” Shaking his head, the dean of the School of Artifice smiled bitterly.

Although he had never been to this floor, the pile of parts on the ground, with their complex structure, materials, and forging techniques, were clearly extraordinary. Assembled, their strength would surely surpass the Saint level.

Such a powerful puppet reduced to this pile—no one would believe it wasn’t the dean’s doing.

Everyone thought he would have a hard time winning, but when they arrived, they saw he had dismantled the puppet entirely…

Dean, you are truly ruthless!

The puppet was only responsible for guarding the level. What did it do to deserve being smashed into such a state…

With tens of thousands of parts, even with blueprints, a six-star artificer would need at least a few days to restore it to its original state… And most importantly, that was just the body. The spirituality and combat awareness would be even more troublesome, requiring help from the School of Martial Arts.

In other words, the dean’s dismantling would keep their two schools busy for at least half a month to restart this level.

But since almost no one below the Half-Saint level could reach this level—not appearing once in thousands of years—there was no need to rush.

“In the previous levels, the dean held back. It seems on this level… he really fought!” Wei Ranxue said.

In the earlier levels, the dean either glanced at the puppets or shouted, just to repel them and render them unable to attack, without truly using his strength.

But on this level, seeing parts all over the floor, he must have directly engaged.

Even they, at the Saint-level late stage, would find it hard to win against such a puppet. Yet the dean, at the early stage of Mortal Transformation ninth level, had smashed it into parts…

“Dean Mo Liuzhen barely won, but the dean not only won but also dismantled it like this. How strong is he? And how did he cultivate?”

Twitching their mouths, everyone fell silent.

It seemed the dean’s strength was not as simple as it appeared. He could not only challenge higher levels but also cross nearly three major levels, already meeting or even exceeding the standards of a war master.

Terrifying!

Previously, they thought the dean had put almost all his energy into auxiliary professions, making them so powerful. Now it seemed that auxiliary skills were indeed professions he hadn’t seriously studied; his real focus was cultivation!

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have such formidable combat strength.

No one gets something for nothing. Being so strong, he must have undergone unimaginable hard training.

Not to mention anything else, this perseverance alone was admirable.

“The dean is fine on this level. It seems he went to the eighth floor. That’s bad…” After circling the room and confirming there was no trace of Zhang Xuan, Zhao Bingxu thought of something and frowned.

“Yes, he should have entered the eighth floor…” Elder Mi’s face also turned pale.

“What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with the eighth floor?” Elder Wei Ranxue didn’t know much about Record Mountain. Seeing their unnatural expressions, she frowned and asked.

“We’re worried that the dean might encounter danger on the eighth floor,” Zhao Bingxu said.

“I thought it was something serious. Don’t worry. On the seventh floor, we thought the dean would have a hard time passing, but he actually smashed the puppet like this, showing his strength is far beyond our imagination. With such ability, passing the eighth floor, which only has a Saint-level peak puppet, shouldn’t be too hard!”

Wei Ranxue smiled.

Ever since entering Record Mountain, everyone had been worried, but the dean had proven with absolute strength that such worry was unnecessary.

Having passed seven levels in a row, witnessing the miracles the dean created step by step, was there anything they couldn’t believe?

Even if someone told her now that the dean had fought his way through, she felt she could fully accept it.

“It’s not as simple as you think. The puppet on the eighth floor is special, different from the previous ones…”

Seeing that she didn’t understand and still had strong faith in the dean, Zhao Bingxu shook his head helplessly.