1101: Chapter 1100 Canglan's Will

Bluish-gray jade fragments fell like a rainstorm, mixed with dissipating Wind Dao Marks and the severed limbs of Cultivators.

"Run! Escape, quickly!"

"The heavenly stairs are collapsing!"

Panic spread like a plague.

Everyone was fleeing for their lives, flying to both sides, trying to escape the collapse zone.

However, the Laws of the Heaven Rank itself had begun to fall into disorder; the Astral Wind lost its regularity, turning into countless violent turbulent flows, forming a death zone around the collapsing Heaven Rank.

Many Cultivators were caught in the turbulence after only a few steps and were torn to pieces.

In just a few breaths, more than a third of this ancient Canglan Heavenly Stairs had completely collapsed, and the remaining part was also teetering.

Meanwhile, Galan was currently standing at the 1,700th step.

The stairs beneath her feet shook violently, and cracks had already spread to where she stood.

The stairs higher up ahead were rapidly disintegrating, and the path to the end of the Heaven Rank was disappearing.

She stopped, slowly turned around, and looked down at the frantically collapsing Heaven Rank and the Cultivators who looked as if they had gone mad.

For the first time, there was a clear ripple of emotion in her azure eyes.

It was an extreme coldness, like eternal ice, capable of freezing the Soul.

"Foolish."

She softly uttered two words; her voice was not loud, yet it pierced through all the roaring and screaming, clearly reaching everyone's ears.

The next moment, she raised the longsword at her waist, silver-white brilliance gathering frantically as she looked up toward the end of the Heaven Rank.

That place was already hidden within the dust of the collapse and the chaotic Astral Wind, making it almost invisible.

But she knew the Legacy was still there.

She had waited for too long; she could wait no longer.

"Open."

She gave a soft cry and lightly slashed the Wind Sword in her hand toward the Void Realm ahead.

There was no earth-shattering momentum, no dazzling light.

There was only a very thin, very faint silver-white sword mark quietly emerging in the Void Realm.

The next moment, the space on both sides of the sword mark slowly parted like torn cloth.

Through the crack, a passage paved entirely with cyan Wind Dao Marks could be seen, leading straight up toward the end of the Heaven Rank deep within the dust.

This passage existed independently of the collapsing Heaven Rank and was completely unaffected.

"Sp-space tearing?!"

"She can actually open a passage in such a chaotic environment of Laws!"

"What Realm is this?!"

Everyone was stunned, momentarily forgetting even the collapse.

Galan ignored the crowd's shock; she stepped into the spatial rift and onto the path paved with Wind Dao Marks.

With one step, she cleared a hundred levels.

With another step, another hundred levels.

Her figure rose rapidly within the passage, each step landing on the densest nodes of Wind Dao Marks. Her speed was at the absolute limit, yet she moved with a fluid elegance.

"Stop her! We can't let her reach the top!"

Prince Hei Hun's eyes were nearly splitting as he rushed toward the spatial rift, trying to break in before the passage closed.

However, just as he approached the edge of the rift, an invisible wind wall suddenly appeared, violently sending him flying.

The power of the Law contained within that wind wall was far beyond what he could contend with.

Others also tried to charge through, but without exception, they were all blocked by the wind wall; some who charged too hard were even severely injured by the counter-shock force.

They could only watch helplessly as the blue figure rose rapidly through the passage, getting closer and closer to the end of the Heaven Rank.

1,950 levels, 1,960 levels, 1,970 levels...

By the time Galan crossed the 1,990th level, she had already surpassed the range of everyone's vision and disappeared into the Astral Wind.

The collapse below continued, and more than half of the Heaven Rank was already destroyed.

The surviving Cultivators stared blankly upward at the gradually closing spatial rift and the vanishing wind passage.

Everything had happened too quickly and was too unbelievable.

Some felt regret, some anger, some despair, while others saw hope reignite in their eyes—since Galan could reach the top this way, did it mean there were other ways to obtain the Legacy?

In a relatively stable corner around the 1,000th step, Li Wuji stood quietly.

He looked through his mask in the direction where Galan had disappeared, a hint of a smile flashing in his eyes.

"The rest depends on you."

He whispered to himself, then his figure swayed and turned into a wisp of breeze, quietly vanishing into the dust of the collapse.

At the deepest part of the Heaven Rank, above the clouds and mist.

When Galan took the final step and set foot on the only remaining, complete 2,000th step, the collapse of the entire Heaven Rank finally ceased.

She stood on a platform paved with cyan jade. Ahead of her was an ancient cyan palace with its doors tightly shut. Above hung a plaque with three ancient characters inscribed on it.

Canglan Hall.

The palace doors slowly opened.

The Spirit of the Legacy slowly emerged and appeared before Galan.

"Successor, are you prepared for the final trial?"

"I must state beforehand that this final trial carries the risk of death. You may refuse, and as a reward for reaching the top, I can grant you a wind-element Middle Divine Ability."

Before the Canglan Hall, the Spirit of the Legacy's figure was as ethereal as mist, its eyes, which seemed to see through all ages, calmly watching Galan.

"Are you certain you want to accept this final trial?"

The aged voice echoed across the open platform, "Once it begins, there is no turning back.

Either you obtain the Legacy and take control of the entire Canglan Secret Realm, or... your Soul Flies Away and Spirit Scatters, and your path ends in death."

Galan stood silently for a moment, her azure eyes showing no sign of wavering.

"Bring it on!"

The Spirit of the Legacy nodded slightly: "Very well."

As the words fell, the entire cyan jade platform began to vibrate.

The surrounding clouds and mist surged frantically, converging toward the center of the platform to form a massive cyan vortex.

In the center of the vortex, a blurry figure slowly coalesced.

It was a middle-aged man dressed in a cyan robe, with a refined appearance and eyes tightly closed.

As his figure gradually became clear, a vast, sea-like aura of wind spread out, and the space on the entire platform began to warp slightly.

The pressure of the Early Stage of the Fifth Rank, like a physical mountain, weighed down on Galan.

Galan's breathing hitched; she tightened her grip on the longsword, its blade glowing with a faint silver-white light.

The middle-aged man slowly opened his eyes.

Those eyes were composed entirely of cyan storms, devoid of emotion, with only the purest Wind Laws flowing within.

He looked at Galan, his voice hollow and mechanical: "Defeat me, and you shall receive the Legacy."

Before his voice had even faded, the middle-aged man—the Canglan Remnant Soul—had already vanished from his spot.

In the next instant, the space to Galan's left tore open, and a cyan palm condensed entirely from Wind Dao Marks reached out, aiming straight for her throat!

Fast!

Extremely fast!

Galan's pupils shrank; she almost instinctively sidestepped while thrusting her longsword upward at an angle.

"Clang—!"

Sword and palm collided, producing a massive metallic clang.

Terrifying power traveled down the sword's blade; Galan let out a muffled groan and retreated three steps, each step leaving a deep footprint on the cyan jade floor.