Location: The Grand Plaza – Entrance to the Tower of Ten Thousand Beasts

  Time: Morning of the Trial

  ?The Tower stood like a needle piercing the heavens. It was made of white bone-stone, rising one hundred floors into the clouds. A massive screen floated above the entrance, displaying the names and floor numbers of the participants.

  ?[Current Leader: Iron-Wall (Floor 1)]

  ?Iron-Wall stood at the base of the stairs. He was a slab of muscle encased in heavy black armor. His skin was grey, transformed by the Iron-Body Art. He wasn't looking at the tower; he was staring at Aris.

  ?"Hey, Fox-Pet," Iron-Wall grinned, revealing sharpened teeth. "I hope you brought your running shoes. The floors are... slippery."

  ?He drew a finger across his throat.

  ?Aris (Han Xiao) shivered theatrically, hiding behind Mo.

  ?"He's scary, Mo! Maybe we should go home?"

  ?"Too late," the Proctor announced. "The Tower is open! Enter!"

  ?Iron-Wall laughed and charged in.

  ?Aris sighed, dropping his shoulders. "Well, let's go see what the code looks like."

  ?He stepped through the portal.

  ?Location: The Tower – Floor 1 to 19

  Time: The Speedrun

  ?Inside, the Tower was a pocket dimension. Floor 1 was a grassy plain filled with Wind-Wolves (Level 30).

  ?Most disciples drew their swords and began fighting.

  ?Aris put his hands in his pockets.

  ?[Abyssal Eye: Analysis Mode]

  [Target: Wind-Wolf Construct.]

  [Code Structure: Hard-Light Projection + Qi Battery.]

  ?"It's a simulation," Aris muttered. "Sloppy coding. The collision detection is laggy."

  ?A wolf lunged at him.

  ?Aris didn't dodge. He simply stepped slightly to the left, exploiting a blind spot in the wolf's tracking algorithm. The wolf passed through his afterimage.

  ?"Mo, don't kill them," Aris ordered. "Just walk."

  ?They walked.

  ?To the outside observers watching the scoreboard, it looked insane. Han Xiao was walking through the pack of wolves like he was on a Sunday stroll. Every bite missed by an inch. Every claw snagged on his robe but didn't cut skin.

  ?[Floor 1 Cleared.]

  [Floor 5 Cleared.]

  [Floor 10 Cleared.]

  ?"He's fast," a disciple outside whispered. "Is it the Drunken Willow technique?"

  ?"No," an Elder frowned. "It looks like... he knows where the beasts will be before they spawn."

  ?Location: Floor 20 – The Obsidian Arena

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  Time: The Ambush

  ?Floor 20 was different. It wasn't a simulation of nature. It was a sealed stone room. A "Boss Floor."

  ?Aris and Mo stepped in. The door slammed shut behind them.

  ?Standing in the center of the room wasn't a beast.

  ?It was Iron-Wall.

  ?He was holding a glowing red token. [Duelist's Key].

  ?"Surprise," Iron-Wall rumbled, crushing the token. "I used a Challenge Token. This floor is now a locked instance. No one leaves until one of us is dead."

  ?He pointed at the ceiling.

  ?"And don't worry about the Elders watching. I paid the Proctor to loop the camera feed. Outside, they see you fighting a Rock Golem. In here... no one hears you scream."

  ?Aris looked around the room. He checked his System.

  ?[Environment: Isolated Server.]

  [Surveillance: Looped.]

  [Witnesses: Zero.]

  ?A slow, cold smile spread across Aris's face. He straightened his posture. The "fear" vanished instantly, replaced by the crushing aura of a predator.

  ?"You paid to lock us in?" Aris asked, his voice dropping to its natural, commanding baritone. "And you disabled the cameras?"

  ?"Yeah," Iron-Wall frowned, sensing the shift in atmosphere. "Why?"

  ?"Because," Aris cracked his knuckles, "I was wondering how I was going to kill you without getting disqualified. You just solved my problem."

  ?Iron-Wall scoffed. "Arrogant trash! Die!"

  ?He charged. His Iron-Body glowed. He punched—a blow that could shatter a castle gate.

  ?Aris didn't dodge this time.

  ?He caught the fist.

  ?WHAM.

  ?The shockwave dusted the room.

  ?Iron-Wall's eyes bulged. His fist—his invincible iron fist—was stopped dead in the palm of a skinny alchemist.

  ?"How..." Iron-Wall gasped.

  ?"Physics," Aris whispered.

  ?[Law Manipulation: Inertia Cancel.]

  ?Aris squeezed.

  ?CRUNCH.

  ?The sound of Iron-Wall's metacarpals grinding to powder echoed in the silent room.

  ?"AAAAHHH!" Iron-Wall fell to his knees, screaming.

  ?"You call yourself 'Iron-Wall'," Aris said, looking down at him. "But iron is brittle. It breaks under stress."

  ?Aris kicked him in the chest.

  ?It wasn't a normal kick. It was a Level 71 Behemoth Kick.

  ?Iron-Wall flew backward. He hit the obsidian wall with such force that he embedded himself into the stone, forming a crater.

  ?"Who... who are you?" Iron-Wall wheezed, blood pouring from his mouth.

  ?Aris walked over to the crater. He placed his hand on the wall next to Iron-Wall's head.

  ?[System Interface: Accessing Tower OS.]

  [Target: Floor 20 Construct Parameters.]

  ?"I am the Architect," Aris said. "And you are just a glitch."

  ?Aris tapped the wall.

  ?[Command: Spawn Entity.]

  [Type: Beast King (Simulation).]

  [Count: 1.]

  ?The air in the room shimmered. A massive, digital roar shook the floor.

  ?A Digital Hydra materialized. It had nine heads, each dripping with pixelated acid.

  ?Iron-Wall stared at the monster. "That... that's a Floor 90 boss! You can't spawn that here!"

  ?"I just did," Aris turned his back. "Have fun."

  ?"Wait! NO!"

  ?The Hydra lunged.

  ?Aris walked toward the exit door. Behind him, the sounds of tearing metal and wet crunches filled the room.

  ?[Target Eliminated: Iron-Wall.]

  [Cause of Death: "Tower Malfunction".]

  ?Aris reached the door. It was locked by the Duel Token.

  ?"System, override lock," Aris commanded. "Mark the winner as Han Xiao."

  ?CLICK.

  ?The door opened.

  ?Aris stepped out onto the staircase to Floor 21. He adjusted his robes, messy again.

  ?"Mo," Aris said. "Make sure you look tired. That Rock Golem was tough."

  ?Mo nodded, splashing some fake blood on his armor.

  ?Location: Outside the Tower

  Time: Simultaneous

  ?The crowd watched the screen.

  ?[Floor 20: Han Xiao vs Rock Golem.]

  Status: Fighting...

  ?Suddenly, the status changed.

  ?[Floor 20: Han Xiao - Victory.]

  [Iron-Wall - Status: Disqualified (Critical Injury/Death).]

  ?"What?" The Proctor blinked. "Iron-Wall died? On Floor 20?"

  ?"He must have pushed too hard," an Elder mused. "The Golems on that floor have a self-destruct mechanism. A tragedy."

  ?No one suspected foul play. The cameras showed Han Xiao limping away from a pile of rocks.

  ?They didn't see the Hydra. They didn't see the murder. They saw exactly what Aris wanted them to see.

  ?Location: Floor 49

  Time: 1 Hour Later

  ?Aris stood before the gate to Floor 50.

  ?"This is the passing grade," Aris noted. "But we aren't stopping here."

  ?He looked up the spiral staircase that disappeared into the digital mist.

  ?"Floor 100," Aris said. "The Control Room. If I reach it, I own the Treasury."

  ?"The upper floors are dangerous," Mo warned. "Even for you. They scale to the user's true level."

  ?"I know," Aris smiled. "That's why I'm not going to fight them."

  ?He placed his hand on the wall.

  ?[System Cheat: Noclip Mode (Partial).]

  ?"I'm going to walk through the ceiling."

  Wiki Update:

  ?Tower Glitches: Aris discovered that the Tower is old. Its code is spaghetti. By vibrating his Qi at a specific frequency, he can phase through the floor boundaries, skipping entire boss fights. To the outside world, the cameras just show static or "Data Corruption" whenever he does this.