337: Chapter 347 Facing Fear, Linglong's Inner Demon!

"Hoo~" Exhaling a long breath of stale air, Young Master Yifeng was the first to open his eyes on the fiftieth step.

Like Mu Linglong, he had chosen to stop at this crucial juncture to refine his Sword Intent.

As the Young Lord of Sword Emperor Mountain, with his profound foundation, he was also the first person in the entire venue to completely refine the first fifty Sword Intents.

Young Master Yifeng slowly stood up, cast a condescending glance at the trial-takers below who were still struggling bitterly, and curled his lips into a sneer of disdain.

"A bunch of trash. Apart from Mu Linglong and a very few other Prodigies, the rest are, frankly speaking, just stepping stones here to make up the numbers."

Withdrawing his gaze, Young Master Yifeng looked toward the higher steps.

"Let me see just how difficult the levels above the fiftieth, which the elders describe as being as hard as ascending to the heavens, really are!"

Young Master Yifeng was filled with grand ambition at this moment, feeling terrifyingly strong.

Guided by the Sword Emperor's pure Sword Intent, he now seemed to have washed away all vanity, leaving only the sharp edge of the Dao of the Sword in his heart!

"Rise!"

Young Master Yifeng stepped onto the fifty-first step with high spirits, reached out his right hand without hesitation, firmly grasped the hilt of the sword stuck in the bluestone slab, and let out a soft shout from his throat, preparing to exert force to pull it out.

However, the very instant his palm made full contact with the sword hilt!

"Crackle—!"

The confidence on Young Master Yifeng's face froze instantly. He felt as if his entire body had been struck head-on by the Nine Heavens divine lightning, and he began to tremble violently!

A terrifyingly violent power of lightning surged directly out through the sword hilt, carrying a destructive pressure, and rushed headlong into his Sea of Consciousness and his limbs and bones!

"Arghhh~~~~"

Young Master Yifeng let out a shrill scream. He only managed to hold on for less than half a breath before his hair stood on end from the electricity. He let go of the sword as if he had been shocked, and stumbled back three or four steps in a sorry state.

"Th-this... what kind of monster is this?!"

Young Master Yifeng panted heavily, gazing with suspicion and uncertainty at the longsword that had returned to calm, his eyes full of fear and bewilderment.

That wasn't right! Before setting off, the elders of Sword Emperor Mountain had explicitly told him that every sword above the fiftieth level of the Heavenly Staircase would carry a powerful elemental power.

But no one told him that the fifty-first level was the damn most violent lightning attribute! He had been afraid of thunder since he was a child!

Young Master Yifeng's expression flickered between shades of light and dark. After pondering for a while, he decided to suppress the fear in his heart first and see what happened when others climbed up.

Soon, Mu Linglong became the second person in the venue to wake up.

The moment she opened her eyes, she keenly sensed a gaze staring intently at her from not far away.

Upon discovering that it was the disheveled Young Master Yifeng, Mu Linglong unreservedly revealed an expression of disgust and turned her head away.

"How unlucky!"

Mu Linglong cursed inwardly, her good mood from completely refining the Sword Intent entirely ruined.

She couldn't be bothered to pay attention to Young Master Yifeng's complex gaze. She quickly adjusted her breathing and state, and with long, slender legs, she stepped firmly onto the fifty-first step.

She did not act arrogantly like Young Master Yifeng, trying to pull the sword with one hand. Instead, she took a deep breath, made full defensive preparations, used both hands, and gripped the cold sword hilt tightly.

Before leaving, her father from the Ten Thousand Sword Ancient Clan had exhorted her repeatedly: every level above the fiftieth represented a life-and-death ordeal that must be taken seriously with one's full effort!

The moment Mu Linglong exerted force with both hands.

"Boom!!!"

There was no expected lightning, nor any Five Elements attribute attack.

A pitch-black pressure, vast enough to be suffocating, like ten thousand ancient mountains, instantly enveloped the depths of Mu Linglong's Soul!

The next second, in her Sea of Consciousness, a phantom of a black heavy sword, standing ten thousand zhang tall and exuding an extremely domineering aura, suddenly emerged!

That deep sense of powerlessness that had once caused the Dao of the Sword she was so proud of to instantly collapse, and made her unable to even hold a sword steady, came rushing back like a nightmare!

It was the very lethal sword strike with which Su Jin had shredded all her pride in one move!

"Ugh~~!"

Mu Linglong let out a painful groan, her delicate body trembling violently, her knees even being pressed into a slight bend.

But she did not let go like Young Master Yifeng!

"I, Mu Linglong, will absolutely not admit defeat! Rise for me!!!"

Mu Linglong bit her red lips tightly, completely unaware that a trace of blood was seeping from the corner of her mouth.

Her gaze was filled with an unyielding tenacity. That fierce, unrelenting spirit burst forth crazily from within her body, transforming into the purest Sword Intent, and collided fiercely with that mountain-like black heavy sword in her Sea of Consciousness!

This was a protracted tug-of-war belonging to the Soul and the will!

At this moment, above the Nine Heavens outside the trial.

Watching Mu Linglong struggling to hold on in the projection on the firmament, a flash of undisguised admiration and brilliance flickered in Qing Feng's sharp eyes.

"The Young Miss is truly a peerless genius possessing the Glazed Sword Body!"

Qing Feng could not help but exclaim in admiration: "This kind of sword body appears as fragile as glass, but in reality, it is extremely resilient and unyielding! The Young Miss's tenacity is truly rare throughout history!"

"Back in the day, even I, who was called a once-in-a-million-year genius of the Dao of the Sword, was forced to let go twice when climbing this fifty-first level, and only managed to pull it out with difficulty on the third attempt!"

Beside him, the Grand Elder of Spirit Sword Villa also stroked his beard and agreed: "Indeed! Although this girl, Mu Linglong, is not from my Spirit Sword Villa, I have watched her grow up since she was a child. Her talent and Heart-Nature are truly impeccable; her future achievements will be limitless!"

The Grand Elder paused, then changed the subject, looking at Young Master Yifeng who was retreating to the side in the projection: "It's just that... that Young Master Yifeng of Sword Emperor Mountain let go a bit too quickly..."

Qing Feng nodded, pointing out the secret: "This fifty-first level trial of the Heavenly Staircase does not have a fixed attribute. The illusions and pressure encountered by each person when grasping the sword hilt are different."

"Rather than calling it pulling a sword, I think... it would be more fitting to call this level 'Facing the Greatest Fear in One's Heart'!"

Inside the Secret Realm of the Heavenly Staircase.

A full half-stick of incense worth of time passed.

Mu Linglong's clothes were soaked through with sweat, as if she had just been fished out of water.

"Ya—!!!"

Accompanied by a throat-tearing shout, Mu Linglong exhausted the last ounce of strength in her body.

"Clang!"

A harsh friction sound rang out. The longsword, which seemed as heavy as a thousand jun, was finally, bit by bit and with extreme difficulty, pulled completely out of the bluestone slab by her!

The moment she held the longsword high, the phantom of the heavy sword that had been oppressing her in her Sea of Consciousness shattered with a boom.

The haze and fear hidden in the deepest part of her heart also dissipated completely along with it!

"Hoo... I really didn't expect..."

Mu Linglong sat limply on the steps, panting heavily, but a bright light sparkled in her clear, spring-like beautiful eyes: "That damn blockhead has actually, without me realizing it, become the deepest fear in my heart!"

However, it was fortunate that this Heart Demon had already been broken by her own hands!

Having experienced a death-like spiritual baptism, Mu Linglong felt that her Sword Heart had become flawless and incomparably transparent.

She knew that the road after these fifty levels would definitely be smoother for her than before!

Meanwhile, standing not far away, Young Master Yifeng was staring at Mu Linglong, who was sitting limply on the ground, with a face full of shock.

He had never expected that the terrifying trial, which even he could not withstand, would be pulled out by this woman in one go while she gritted her teeth!

Under this strong contrast, an indescribable sense of frustration surged into his heart.

When Young Master Yifeng mustered his courage again and looked back at the longsword in front of him, which was faintly flickering with electric light, and recalled the numbness and pain that had penetrated to his bones just now...

He swallowed hard, and his feet uncontrollably retreated half a step.

This dignified Young Lord of Sword Emperor Mountain had actually begun to shrink back in the depths of his heart!