93: Chapter 93 Three chimes not enough? Then nine will do!

The sound of the bell was vast, shaking the Thirteen Peaks of Qingyun.

At the foot of the mountain, there was a moment of deathly silence, followed by an uproar that erupted like a tsunami!

"It rang! It actually rang!"

"Heavens, a sixty-something-year-old old man at Qi Refining Stage 6 actually triggered the Great Dao Bell toll!"

"Am I dreaming? Did the Ascending Heavenly Ladder malfunction today?"

Everyone went crazy.

Those young people who were still mocking Jiang Feng earlier now had their mouths wide open, their expressions frozen from mockery into utter disbelief.

They could never have dreamed that this white-haired old man, whom they regarded as a joke, actually accomplished what even they could not reach: stepping onto the 500th step and triggering the long toll of the bell!

This was not only a proof of strength but also the loudest slap in the face to these young people!

Above the Ascending Heavenly Ladder, Jiang Feng remained deaf to the clamor at the foot of the mountain.

He could feel that after stepping past the 500th step, that invisible pressure had suddenly increased several times over.

At the same time, the refreshing feeling of expelling Impurities from his body through sweat had completely disappeared.

Jiang Feng understood that the free marrow-cleansing and meridian-washing had come to an end.

What followed was the true test for the climber.

Without the slightest hesitation, the Spiritual Qi that had been silent within his body for a long time finally began to circulate.

"Boom!"

Although the Qi Refining Stage 6 spiritual power was weak, as it flowed through his broad and tough Meridians, it still brought him new strength.

His legs, which had previously felt as heavy as mountains, instantly felt a hint of lightness.

Previously, in order to maximize the use of the Ascending Heavenly Ladder's pressure to temper his Physical Body, he had been suppressing himself from using even a shred of spiritual power, relying purely on his Physical Body to resist.

Now, the tempering of his Physical Body had reached its limit, and it was time to get serious.

He raised his head and looked at the white jade stairs that seemed to have no end, his gaze calm.

On the entire Ascending Heavenly Ladder, only he remained.

His lonely figure flickered in and out of the clouds, one step, then another.

Lifting his foot, placing his foot.

Every movement seemed incomparably difficult, yet it carried an indescribable sense of rhythm.

600th step.

700th step.

800th step...

His speed became slower and slower; with every step that landed, the white jade step beneath his feet would emit a dull, faint sound.

Just at the moment Jiang Feng stepped onto the 1000th step!

Dong!!!

The second bell toll was louder and more distant than the first, booming from the peak of Cloud Peak, shaking the sea of clouds into turmoil!

This time, it was not just the people at the foot of the mountain.

Even within the Qingyun Sect, a huge wave was stirred up.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

Streaks of light shot out from various places across the Thirteen Peaks of Qingyun, hovering in the clouds above the Ascending Heavenly Ladder, transforming into Disciples wearing Qingyun Sect attire.

They stood on their swords, looking down from above at the tiny figure on the Ascending Heavenly Ladder.

"Two bell tolls! Someone actually triggered two bell tolls!"

"The last person who could do this was a hundred years ago, right? I heard he was later directly taken as a Disciple by a Golden Core True Lord, and he is now a Late-stage Foundation Establishment expert!"

"Which Sect's Genius has come to challenge our Qingyun Sect?"

The Disciples discussed among themselves, all wanting to see who this once-in-a-century prodigy really was.

However, when they focused their vision and saw Jiang Feng's face, their amazement and curiosity instantly turned into astonishment and disdain.

"An old man?"

"Full head of white hair... Looking at him, he must be sixty years old."

"Qi Refining Stage 6? Did I see that right? A sixty-year-old at Qi Refining Stage 6, how did he get here?"

Sounds of disdain rose again, even more piercing than those from the young people at the foot of the mountain.

In the eyes of these proud sons of heaven, talent and age were everything.

For a Cultivator who was only at Qi Refining Stage 6 at sixty, even if his will was firm and his Heart-Nature was extraordinary, his path to immortality was already severed.

The iron rule of the cultivation world: If one cannot reach the Late Stage of Qi Refining before sixty, their blood and Qi will begin to decline irreversibly, and there will be no possibility of Foundation Establishment in this lifetime.

A Cultivator destined to be unable to achieve Foundation Establishment, even if he could walk the entire Ascending Heavenly Ladder, the Sect would definitely not admit him!

"Fellow Daoist below, go back. Even if you can trigger three bell tolls, the Sect will not accept you."

In the clouds, an Inner Sect Disciple who looked slightly older spoke with a hint of pity and kindness to persuade him.

"At your age, still delusional about entering our Qingyun Sect, it's simply a pipe dream! Stop wasting time here!" Someone nearby immediately chimed in meanly.

"Maybe he relied on some evil path Medicinal Pill to hold on until now; this kind of person, his Heart-Nature is already ruined!"

Facing the various voices from above the clouds, Jiang Feng still did not look up, and his pace did not show the slightest bit of disorder.

Qingyun Sect? Personal Disciple? He didn't care for them at all.

He came here only to enter the Inner Sect, only to save that woman and his own flesh and blood in her womb!

He continued upward.

1500th step.

1800th step.

2000th step!

When his foot heavily stepped onto the 2000th white jade step!

Dong—!!!

The third bell toll rang out, shaking the heavens and the earth!

The entire Thirteen Peaks of Qingyun trembled at this moment!

At the foot of the Ascending Heavenly Ladder, the crowd completely exploded!

Above the clouds, all the watching Qingyun Sect Disciples fell into a dead silent uproar!

A sixty-year-old old man!

Ascending the Ascending Heavenly Ladder, triggering three Great Dao bell tolls!

In the thousands of years of the Qingyun Sect's history, this had never happened before!

Unprecedented!

This was no longer a Genius, but a monster!

The three bell tolls finally alarmed the real big shot.

"Hum—"

The space slightly distorted, and a figure appeared above the Ascending Heavenly Ladder without any warning.

It was an old man with a full head of white hair, wearing the moon-white Daoist robe symbolizing an Inner Sect Elder, his aura unfathomable.

A Golden Core True Lord!

His appearance caused all the watching Disciples to bow and salute.

"Greetings, Elder Liu!"

Elder Liu ignored the crowd, his cloudy yet sharp eyes locking directly onto Jiang Feng on the Ascending Heavenly Ladder.

He sensed for a moment, his brows first knitting tightly, then slowly relaxing, finally turning into a helpless sigh.

"Go back."

His voice was not loud, but it clearly reached Jiang Feng's ears.

"Considering your firm Heart-Nature, it was not easy for you to reach this place. But you are too old, your blood and Qi already show signs of decline, and your path to immortality is bleak. Our Qingyun Sect cannot accept you."

This was the final verdict. The verdict from a Golden Core True Lord.

However, Jiang Feng just slightly raised his head and glanced at that Golden Core Elder.

In those eyes, there was no pleading, no unwillingness, only a trace of faint disdain.

Immediately, he withdrew his gaze, continued to lift his foot, and walked toward the 2001st step.

This action completely enraged the Golden Core True Lord.

"Presumptuous!"

Elder Liu's face darkened, and cold light shot from his eyes.

"Did you not hear me tell you to go back!"

He formed his fingers into a sword and casually waved downward!

A sharp True Qi flew out from his fingertips, tearing through the sky, heading straight for Jiang Feng's feet!

He did not intend to kill, he just wanted to teach this ignorant old man a lesson and knock him off the Ascending Heavenly Ladder.

However, that True Qi, which was enough to cut through mountain rocks, hit an invisible barrier out of thin air just as it approached the Ascending Heavenly Ladder by three feet, and quietly dissipated.

The rules of the Ascending Heavenly Ladder itself did not allow any external force to interfere!

Elder Liu's face became somewhat ugly.

It was at this moment that Jiang Feng finally spoke.

His voice was a bit hoarse, yet it clearly spread throughout the entire Ascending Heavenly Ladder and its surroundings.

"I want to enter the Inner Sect."

"Three bell tolls are not enough..."

He paused, lifted his foot, and stepped down heavily.

"Then six!"

"If six is not enough, then nine!"