742: Chapter 743 The Path to Death

Shen Jinghong’s gaze swept indifferently across the heavenly pride list, searching all the way down, and soon locked onto the long string of neatly connected pseudonyms after the hundredth place.

When she saw the sequence of names at 109th, 110th, and 111th, the corners of her lips twitched slightly.

Junior Brother Xiao and the others are truly worthy of being trained by Martial Uncle Gu; they really know how to keep their cool.

Not far away, Yue Liuli, dressed in a moon-white dress with a cold and otherworldly temperament, also raised her eyes to gaze at the high-hanging Heaven Ranking.

She first skimmed over the crowd of prodigies, her gaze landing on the name of Battle Asura, and her eyes couldn't help but soften slightly; that was the Lord's Disciple.

In an instant, her gaze swept over the 98th place, Chu Yungui, like an icicle.

At this moment, the gaze of this Taixuan Immortal Palace Saint was piercing through the crowd, carrying undisguised gloom and ferocity as it locked onto Xiao Ruobai and the others below.

These few had actually entered the top one hundred and twenty, which made Chu Yungui feel a massive threat.

The imperceptible trace of softness in Yue Liuli’s eyes instantly froze and shattered, turning into a bone-chilling killing intent that would not melt for ten thousand years.

Almost at the same time.

Mu Chenyu, ranked 19th on the list, seemed to sense something and shifted his gaze from the list, following Yue Liuli’s line of sight.

Just catching Chu Yungui’s cold and malicious glance, his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, and a cold, sharp light flashed in the depths of his eyes.

"There's work to do," he whispered in his heart, his fingers tightening slightly on the hilt of his sword.

"Oho?"

On the other side, Shi Jingxian almost laughed out loud, his eyes instead revealing a playful and excited look, as if seeing prey.

"I was just worrying about my hands itching, and now someone is rushing to provide a pillow? Chu Yungui? Good, I’ve noted your name."

Su Qingyuan, Lin Xiaowan, Shen Jinghong, and the others also looked at Chu Yungui with ill intent; even Li Xuanfeng, ranked seventh, noticed something and cast a faint glance toward Chu Yungui’s position.

Though there was no boiling killing intent or blazing anger, the unique insight and indifference belonging to a top-tier Sword Cultivator made Chu Yungui, who happened to meet that gaze, feel a sudden chill in his heart, as if an invisible sharp sword were pressed against his throat.

This boy has already found a path to death.

The Azure Profound Sect lineage, though small in number, at this moment revealed a startling synchronicity and protectiveness because their fellow Disciples were being threatened.

Countless prodigies, Elders of ancient orthodoxies, and accompanying experts looked solemn, their hearts filled with awe as they gazed at the unfamiliar yet highly-ranked names on the list.

Previously, they were only familiar with the established prodigies who ran rampant in the Immortal Realm, but now they suddenly woke up to the truth.

The Immortal Realm was vast, with countless hidden monstrous dark horses, and numerous dormant young experts were all using this Heavenly Tablet trial to make their debut.

"Indeed, one cannot underestimate the people of the world; this Immortal Realm truly hides dragons and crouches tigers!" many people marveled secretly.

Atop the celestial ladder, Wang Zhan was almost deaf to the surrounding clamor and the changes on the ranking list.

He sat cross-legged in a corner of the peak, his dark red spear resting across his knees, his eyes tightly closed.

The blood qi and tragic Battle Intent steaming around him did not subside; instead, under his conscious guidance, they were like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, constantly washing over and tempering his entire body, which had been nearly exhausted on the Road to Heaven.

At this peak where the strongest of the generation gathered and Immortal Kings were as numerous as clouds, his Heavenly Immortal Realm cultivation was as conspicuous as a sheep entering a pack of wolves.

Any moment of laxity could mean being instantly crushed in the coming struggles.

The cruel three-day climb on the Road to Heaven was a test for others, but for him, it was an extreme tempering using his body as iron and Battle Intent as fire.

The layers of celestial ladder pressure, Dao tempering, and Law baptism were constantly polishing his flesh and bones and tempering his Battle Intent and Divine Soul.

His Heavenly Immortal Realm was already a large step behind everyone else; his only goal was to seize every second to quietly settle, stabilize his Foundation, and squeeze his limits using the residual Dao warmth of the celestial ladder.

The three-day period passed in the blink of an eye.

When the last bit of the hourglass ran out, the terrifying pressure that had permeated the celestial ladder for three whole days receded like a tide.

"Dong—!"

An ancient bell chime, far more distant and desolate than the one upon reaching the summit, rang out from the end of the celestial ladder and the depths of the peak, spreading throughout the entire Heavenly Tablet Space.

The sound of the bell was the sound of the end.

"The time limit has been reached. The Road to Heaven ends!"

The voice of the Great Dao announced indifferently.

In the next moment, the countless prodigies still struggling on the long stairs who ultimately failed to set foot on the peak.

Whether they were just one step from the finish or far away, their figures were all wrapped in irresistible spatial power at the same instant.

"No—!! I was so close! Just a little bit more!!"

"Give me one more moment! Just one moment!"

"imperial dao true seed... my Opportunity..."

Shrills, resentment, and despairing roars and wails instantly echoed in every corner of the celestial ladder, and then in the next moment, they came to an abrupt halt like a snuffed candle flame.

Figures turned into white light, like a reverse meteor shower, rising from all parts of the celestial ladder and vanishing into the Void Realm, completely disappearing from the Heavenly Tablet Space.

Eliminated!

Countless figures who were considered geniuses in their respective regions of the Immortal Realm exited the stage in disappointment during this first stage of the Great Dao competition, their dreams ending on the Road to Heaven.

At the peak, the thirty-thousand-plus figures who successfully reached the summit stood in silence.

Some had unstable breaths and wounds on their bodies, while others had tidy clothes and steady breaths, clearly doing so with ease, as they scrutinized the new peers and potential opponents around them.

Others, like Ling Guzhou, Ji Qingyi, Gu Shitian, Xuan Yi, and Li Xuanfeng, had already formed their own auras, faintly separated from their surroundings as if standing in another, higher heaven and earth.

In the sky, the phantom of the vast heavenly pride list gradually dimmed its light and finally completely solidified.

Over thirty thousand names were clearly listed from top to bottom, their light ranging from brilliant to relatively calm.

First: Ling Guzhou.

Second: Ji Qingyi.

Third: Gu Shitian.

Fourth: Xuan Yi.

Fifth: Mo Cha.

Sixth: Ao Zhan.

Seventh: Li Xuanfeng.

Eighth: Luo Shenyue.

Ninth: Shi Jingxian.

Tenth: Xu.

...

60th: Wang Zhan.

...

109th: Battle Asura.

...

Down to the 30,051st at the end of the list.

Every name represented a contemporary Prodigy who had stepped through mountains of corpses and seas of blood and passed the Road to Heaven trial; behind them were the dejected silhouettes of hundreds of millions of eliminated participants.

With this, the first stage of the heavenly pride list's Road to Heaven was completely settled.

The list hung high, the rankings eternal; some soared to the sky here, their light shining brightly and their names shaking the heavens, while others hid their presence, quietly hiding their claws and teeth while waiting for a clap of thunder.

The lingering resonance of the bell slowly faded in the Heavenly Tablet Space, and atop the peak, the thirty-thousand-plus figures with varying breaths were all immersed in a strange silence.

The joy of reaching the summit, the relief of surviving a disaster, the tension regarding the unknown future, and the hidden vigilance and scrutiny when looking at those nearby—all sorts of emotions spread silently.

In the sky, the light of the heavenly pride list completely stabilized, hanging in the sky like a brand, silently announcing the final results of the first round of trials.

Just as all was silent and everyone had different thoughts.

"Rumble—!"

A dull sound like a thunderclap came from the depths of the sky, from behind that solidified heavenly pride list!

Then, before everyone's shocked eyes, the place of void in front of the celestial ladder, which was originally chaotic and seemed to support the Heavenly Tablet Space, suddenly collapsed inward and rotated!

A deep, dark, massive vortex that seemed to lead to an unknown place slowly took shape.

In the center of the vortex, countless profound runes flickered and flowed, emitting an ancient, vast, and supreme Great Dao aura.

A power even more vast and more primal than the pressure of the Road to Heaven spread out like a giant beast awakening, causing all the prodigies at the peak, regardless of rank, to feel their hearts sink and their Divine Souls tremble.

"What is that?" someone whispered in surprise, with undisguised awe.

"Is it the entrance to the second stage of the Heavenly Tablet Space?" Wang Xiaopang stared with wide eyes at the deep vortex and muttered softly.

Xiao Ruobai, Fang Hanyu, Ling Xi, and the others all looked solemn; from that vortex, they felt an aura far more dangerous and more enticing than the celestial ladder.