The King Of Warriors novel (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 6651

Just then, the old voice rang out again.

"Fellow cultivators, there is no need to rush."

The voice sounded calm and steady, as if everything was going exactly as planned.

"The first floor is only a taste. The true treasures are above. The higher you climb, the better the rewards. However..."

He paused.

"To reach the next floor, you must find the teleportation array hidden somewhere on this level. Search carefully. Once you find it, you may enter the second floor for free."

The crowd's anger eased a little.

"So the good things are higher up?"

"Then stop wasting time. Find the array."

"Right. Once we find it, we go up for free."

The cultivators' enthusiasm returned.

They scattered across the garden again, searching for any trace of the teleportation array.

Some climbed the hills to look down over the area.

Some crawled into the woods and checked every corner.

Some used spirit sense to sweep the ground inch by inch.

Jared watched and shook his head.

That old Golden Immortal had not changed at all.

He still spoke in half-truths, pushing people into a pit while making them think they had chosen the road themselves.

"Jared, are we not looking?" Gwendolyn asked.

"No rush." Jared smiled. "Let them search first. Once they are tired enough, someone will offer a solution."

Gwendolyn studied his smile.

"You mean..."

"Just watch."

Sure enough, half an hour later, the cultivators in the spirit herb garden were exhausted, sweaty, and empty-handed.

Some had checked every stone.

Nothing.

Some had climbed every hill.

Nothing.

Some had dug deep into the soil.

Still nothing.

"What is going on? Where is the teleportation array?"

"I have been looking forever and have not seen even a shadow."

"Is there no array at all? Is that old man playing us?"

"I think the whole tower is a scam. We all got cheated."

The anger erupted again.

This time, it was worse than before.

People cursed. People stomped. Some even struck nearby spirit plants with arcane tools to vent their frustration.

Then the old voice returned.

This time, a faint trace of amusement hid beneath it.

"Please calm yourselves, fellow cultivators. The teleportation array certainly exists. It is merely well hidden. However..."

He drew out the pause again.

"If you truly cannot find it, I can provide a convenient alternative. Pay only fifty high-grade crystals, and I will send you directly to the second floor.

"Fifty high-grade crystals to reach the second floor, where higher-grade arcane implements and pills await. No matter how you count it, that is not a loss, is it?"

The crowd exploded at once.

"What? More money?"

"I already paid one hundred supreme-grade crystals. Now you want fifty high-grade crystals too? Is this a robbery?"

"This is a black shop. A completely black-hearted shop."

"Refund! Give me my money back. I quit."

Curses rose everywhere.

Some faces turned red with anger. Some looked as if they wanted to tear the whole tower apart. Others sat on the ground and refused to move.

But while the shouting was loudest, several people quietly walked toward the entrance and took out fifty high-grade crystals.

"I will go up."

A middle-aged cultivator in green robes spoke first. His face was calm, but expectation flashed in his eyes. "I have already paid one hundred supreme-grade crystals. Another fifty high-grade crystals is nothing. If there is something good above, it will still be worth it."

With over a thousand people entering in one day, entrance fees and transfer fees alone could earn him over a million.

Jared remembered the Celestial Stairway.

Back then, most cultivators who entered had died inside. Some only escaped after leaving behind all the resources they owned.

On the surface, the Celestial Stairway had been a shortcut for cultivators to climb into the celestial realm.

In reality, the old Golden Immortal had been quietly draining them.

If Jared had not freed the cultivators trapped inside and ruined the guardians on every floor, the old man might still be running that place.

Now he had simply changed the format.

Jared knew there would be a bigger lure later.

The old man would wait until everyone felt cheated and wanted to quit, then bring out the most tempting bait.

He was using people's greed to set the trap.

It was no different from a pig-butchering scam in the secular world.

Even when people knew they might be getting cheated, many still clung to one last fantasy.

Maybe this next step would let them win everything back.

"Jared, are we not going up?" Gwendolyn asked.

"We are." Jared smiled. "Of course we are."

Then his smile deepened.

"But we are not paying."

He took her hand and walked toward the northwest corner of the spirit herb garden.

"You know where the teleportation array is?"

"Of course. There is no teleportation array here."

"No array?" Gwendolyn looked confused. "Then he is lying?"

"That is exactly what he is doing. The old man is scamming them."

"Then how are we supposed to go up? If there is no array, we cannot reach the second floor."

"I can open a passage."

Jared spoke with complete confidence.

With his spatial law, opening a temporary path to the second floor would be easy.