463: Chapter 463 Divine Light Guiding

Before the water mirror, there was absolute, death-like silence.

Everyone seemed to have their throats gripped by an invisible hand, their mouths tightly covered by someone. They had even forgotten how to breathe.

In their wide eyes, bloodshot veins spread like spiderwebs, reflecting the frantic scene of that God-Demon battlefield—their Divine Soul seemed to be whipped and flayed by those Order Chains lashing the Void Realm, trembling and groaning with every collision.

Only the heart, within the deathly silent chest, beat wildly like a doomsday drum, each sound as urgent as a death knell.

Seven thousand steps... Eight thousand steps...

By now, only the four figures in the lead could maintain their Dharma Image without dissipating and continue to move upward—they were like those dancing barefoot on a mountain of knives and sea of fire, moving against the current in a world-destroying tsunami; every step was taken on a tightrope between life and death!

Wutian, who devoured the might of heaven and was accompanied by a Demon God!

The white-clad youth, whose Sword Intent was clear and who cleared the path with a giant sword!

Xuanyuan Zhanxian, with Yin and Yang evolving and a Kunpeng protecting his body!

Luo Xiaojiu, with Qi and blood like a Dragon and a War God possessing her body!

Even their Dharma Images had reached the brink of shattering.

The phantom of the Demon God behind Wutian had its edges constantly crumbling into primordial Chaos Qi, only to be crazily reconstructed under the drive of endless hunger, emitting a silent yet Divine Soul-shaking roar, like a dying Vicious Beast.

The golden giant sword behind the white-clad youth was covered in cracks, like glass about to shatter; with every forward "slash," it emitted a mournful and resolute clang, the sword hum sounding like weeping blood.

Xuanyuan Zhanxian's Taiji Bagua Diagram rotated almost crazily, its trajectory blurred into a mass of chaotic light and shadow; the Kunpeng phantom within it flickered uncertainly, like a candle in the wind, swaying and about to extinguish, ready to dissipate into nothingness at any moment.

Luo Xiaojiu's golden War God phantom had light as dim as dying embers, its towering form even beginning to become slightly transparent, as if it would completely shatter and scatter into dust the next second.

Nine thousand steps... Nine thousand five hundred steps... Nine thousand eight hundred steps...

Every step was like crossing a cycle of life and death. Their bodies had long since exceeded the limit of endurance; every time they lifted a foot, it was as if they were tearing their own Soul apart with their own hands.

Relying entirely on that indomitable will and that undying obsession, they forcibly held together their collapsing Physical Body and Dharma Image—like using tattered silk threads to mend a torn banner.

Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine steps!

The final step lay before them.

This was not a staircase; this was a heavenly abyss!

It was the final, and most insurmountable, chasm between the mortal world and the Supreme!

It lay between life and death, between man and god!

Charging at the very front was none other than Xuanyuan Zhanxian!

Blood flowed from his seven orifices; blood and sweat mixed, staining his tattered lapels red.

His handsome face was twisted by extreme pain and madness, but the light in his eyes burned to the very end of his life and even his Soul—blazing so brightly it scorched, shining as if he wanted to burn his own Soul into ashes!

"Yin—Yang—Reverse! Kunpeng... Extreme Speed!!!!!!"

He let out the most frenzied, most resolute, most hysterical Soul roar of his life—this was not a sound, but the final roar of life before it burned out!

The Taiji Bagua Diagram rotating to the limit behind him, along with the flickering Kunpeng phantom within it, suddenly collapsed inward, and with great perseverance and resolution, he forcibly incorporated it into his own broken shell!

"Boom—!!!"

Chaotic, extremely violent Yin and Yang Qi erupted from his body; he seemed to transform into a chaotic stream of light that reversed Karma and broke free from the shackles of time and space!

He was burning—burning his essence blood, burning his Origin, burning his Dao foundation, burning everything that could be burned—burning his life, burning his Soul, burning his afterlife and present life—all to exchange for this—

The final leap! This step that transcended limits, this forbidden step!

"Break—for—me!!!!!!"

"Dong—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

This was not a sound.

This was the most primordial, most magnificent bell toll emitted by the Origin of the Universe when the "Dao" was brazenly broken through!

It sounded from the beginning of time immemorial, piercing through the past, present, and future, resounding in every inch of space on the path to heaven, penetrating the water mirror, and exploding, echoing, and branding itself in the deepest part of every witness's Divine Soul and the lowest level of their Dao Heart—like a red-hot iron brand, fiercely stamped onto everyone's Soul!

"Puff!" "Waa—!"

Before the water mirror, countless spectators were struck as if by a heavy blow, their faces turning pale as paper, spraying blood into the sky, their minds almost losing control!

Some staggered backward, some collapsed to the ground, and some clutched their chests tightly, as if their hearts were about to be shattered by that bell toll!

Amidst that magnificent "Dao toll" that pierced through everything—

Xuanyuan Zhanxian's right foot, carrying forward-moving resolution, heavily and solidly stepped onto that which symbolized Perfection, Peak, and the Supreme Opportunity—

The ten-thousandth jade step!

Hum—

Between heaven and earth, there seemed to be a momentary stagnation.

Immediately, a divine light of guidance, whose color could not be described and whose magnificence could not be depicted, crashed down from the end of the heavenly ladder, from the deepest part of the endlessly churning mysterious clouds!

Within the pillar of light, it contained the purest Origin Qi of Chaos and flowed with the most primordial rhythm of the Dao of heaven and earth.

Faintly visible were ethereal immortal palaces and babbling divine springs; the sound of the Great Dao transformed into tangible heavenly flowers that drifted down slowly, washing away all wounds and soothing all fatigue—like a gentle hand, lightly brushing over the blood-bathed body.

Xuanyuan Zhanxian stood in this ultimate glory, his body still as straight as a blood-stained spear. He slowly, extremely slowly, turned his head.

His gaze swept across the ones below—

Wutian raised his head, and the eternal Chaos in his eyes surged with stormy waves for the first time!

The phantom of the Demon God behind him let out a silent yet heaven-and-earth-shaking roar at the divine light of guidance—in that roar, there was unwillingness, anger, and even more, monstrous Battle Intent!

The white-clad youth's hand gripping the sword finger turned white at the knuckles, trembling slightly; the golden giant sword behind him, covered in cracks, emitted a mournful sword hum of extreme unwillingness, yet its tip still stubbornly and tightly pointed toward the firmament, toward that ten-thousandth step—toward the Supreme that was within reach, yet as far away as the horizon!

A low, beast-like roar came from Luo Xiaojiu's throat as she tried to squeeze out the last trace of golden Qi and blood from her Meridians once more; the already transparent deity phantom flickered violently, as if it would completely burn out and dissipate the next second—but she was still burning, still burning desperately!

Further down, Jian Tanghuang's Phoenix wailed, sorrowful and shrill, like a requiem of weeping blood; the Golden Lion stumbled but still tried to take steps, each one as if measuring with its life; the Deep Sea Halberd Emperor's eyes erupted with extreme unwillingness, a gaze that seemed to want to carve his unwillingness into these stone steps...

His gaze finally met with Wutian's and the white-clad youth's in the Void Realm, briefly intersecting.

That glance held the arrogance of being the first to break through and stand at the Peak, the recognition and respect for an opponent worthy of an all-out battle, and even more, the resolution for the unknown path ahead and the solitary journey of the Great Dao—as well as a trace of faint loneliness that only those who stood at the Peak could understand.

"I..."

His voice came through the divine light of guidance, carrying a kind of transcendent calm, yet containing infinite power.

"I shall go on ahead."

The moment the words fell—

Boom!

The divine light of guidance retracted abruptly, as if it had never appeared. And Xuanyuan Zhanxian's blood-bathed figure also completely disappeared from the ten-thousandth jade step, vanishing into the endlessly churning, mysterious clouds.

The ten-thousandth step was empty.

Only the lingering sound of the Dao bell, which seemed to come from the beginning of the Universe and seemed to resound until the end of time, still rumbled and echoed on every blood-stained heavenly ladder, in the deepest part of every witness's Divine Soul, lingering long—like tides, washing over everyone's heart wave after wave.

Below.

Around Wutian, that thick, tangible Devilish Qi became completely violent, and the Demon God phantom behind him made a hideous, heaven-swallowing, earth-eating posture toward the empty jade steps above! In that posture, there was anger, unwillingness, and even more, monstrous Battle Intent—as if saying: The next one is me!

Behind the white-clad youth, all the cracks on the golden giant sword suddenly erupted with blindingly fierce light, as if this sword wanted to fuse all his will, all his cultivation, and all his life into this final strike at this moment! The sword hum was like weeping blood, the Sword Intent like burning heaven!

Luo Xiaojiu let out a terrifying battle cry that sounded nothing like a human, as if from a prehistoric battlefield; the remaining golden Qi and blood ignited with a roar, turning into raging flames that wrapped around her and the deity phantom that was about to dissipate! She was burning, burning everything of herself—just for that final step!

The heavenly ladder's end had appeared.

And the final chapter of this climb, the Peak of this competition, this ultimate confrontation between will and Heavenly Dao, between the mortal world and the Supreme—

At this moment, was pushed to the most tragic, yet most dazzling final climax!

Above the heavenly ladder, beneath the clouds, only unwilling roars, unyielding sword hums, and undying Battle Intent were engaged in the final, most frenzied, and most brilliant battle and roar against the omnipresent pressure of the Heavenly Dao!

Like trapped beasts, like mad Dragons, like a raging fire burning everything to ashes!

Above the heavenly ladder, the divine radiance dispersed, leaving only a cold, almost cruel silence.

The legend of the one who reached the top had drifted away with the light, and this long ladder to heaven had now become a huge, wordless tombstone.

Looking down from that empty nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-ninth step, as far as the eye could see, it was no longer a staircase leading to glory, but a long and sloping graveyard paved with shattered ambition, broken pride, and cooled hot blood.

Below the five-thousandth step were nameless desolate graves.

This place was piled with the most figures, yet it was filled with the most thorough silence. They were like fish stranded on a mudflat after the tide receded, densely packed, maintaining their final struggling posture, gill covers struggling to open and close, reflecting in their eyes only the heart-wrenching blankness of the firmament after the divine light faded—in that blankness, it was filled with unwillingness and despair.

Some had fingers like hooks, deeply wedged into the crevices of the stone steps, fingertips torn and bleeding, bone fragments protruding without them even knowing, as if they wanted to nail themselves to this pillar of shame of failure—with flesh, with bone, with their everything.

Some curled up like infants returning to the womb, faces buried deep in their arms, only their violently twitching shoulders and backs revealing the silent, suppressed wailing—that was the sound of dreams shattering, the sound of pride breaking.

More people just lay sprawled out lifelessly, pupils dilated, staring at the high sky—their Souls seemed to have been taken away by the hundreds of immortal guidance lights, leaving behind only a husk crumpled and hollowed out by the pressure of heaven and earth, slowly losing temperature on the gradually cooling stone steps.