222: Climbing the ladder to heaven

“The Profound Origin Stone Steps… What a grand undertaking…”

Gu Changsheng stood on a wide, golden stone step, feeling as if he carried a mountain on his shoulders, incredibly heavy.

Profound Origin Stone was one of the world's rare treasures, naturally possessing the effect of attracting gravity.

A small, fist-sized piece integrated into a mountain-type Spirit Treasure was enough to increase the Magic Treasure's power by thirty percent.

An ordinary Profound Cave Cultivator, upon seeing it, would likely fight tooth and nail for it.

Yet, here it was, incredibly lowly, fashioned into stone steps, trodden underfoot.

“These Profound Origin Stone Steps stretch up to the heavens, their aura perfectly unified, an estimated one hundred thousand steps… Did Holy Ancestor Jialan find a world full of Profound Origin Stone and hollow it out completely…?”

Gu Changsheng frowned slightly and ascended the steps.

As soon as he stepped onto the second step, the pressure on his shoulders sharply increased.

“Good heavens… I estimate that after reaching the one-thousandth step, an ordinary True Dan Cultivator would likely be crushed to death.

And…”

His gaze swept around, and he saw that everyone present was a True Core Realm Cultivator.

“Is there a special Formation hidden behind the fleshy giant gate, dividing different heavenly ladders according to different Realms…?”

“That makes sense. If True Core Realm Cultivators and Profound Cave Cultivators were on the same track, it wouldn’t be fair…”

Gu Changsheng understood, and began to ascend step by step.

The second trial, ascending the Heavenly Ladder, only required reaching the summit.

His pace was neither fast nor slow, but it was relentless.

Initially, he lagged behind, but in less than a quarter of an hour, he left the main group behind and reached the third echelon.

Looking up, there were still hundreds of people ahead.

Suddenly, a fist wind struck, and a portly, corpulent ruffian launched a sneak attack from the side.

“Kid, get lost!”

‘Eliminating competitors in advance, huh…?’ Gu Changsheng didn't dodge. He lightly tapped his finger, and a sword gleam shot out, instantly cleaving the ruffian’s body into two. His internal organs, mixed with foul blood, splattered onto the steps.

“Du Xingfeng is dead… He was a skilled True Core Realm Cultivator from Bisi City…”

“Just one move…”

“This person is not to be provoked…”

Terrified, the surrounding trial participants quickly moved away, and the crowd spontaneously parted, creating a path.

Gu Changsheng remained expressionless, as if a gentle breeze had brushed his face, his pace still steady.

Soon, he crossed ten thousand steps.

As the pressure increased, the physical energy consumed for each step climbed. The speed of the original second echelon gradually decreased, and Gu Changsheng caught up.

“Get lost!”

“Die!”

Three similar-looking, single-horned Saint Clan members attacked together.

‘Are they trying that trick too…?’ Gu Changsheng’s eyes flickered. He unleashed a punch, and the three figures were instantly pulverized into a bloody mist by the immense force of the punch, which then dissipated.

The trial participants of the second echelon frowned and instinctively moved out of the way.

In the Saint Realm, strength was paramount.

The weak, once dead, were simply dead.

“Heh heh, Xiu Er, aren’t you most keen on sparring? Why don’t you go test this person’s strength?”

“Hmph, if you want to die, just say so. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking…”

A three-zhang tall, green-scaled Saint Clan member sneered.

His crimson eyes swept over Gu Changsheng, and a hint of fear appeared in his pupils.

As he ascended, the pressure grew increasingly intense.

Under the watchful eyes of hundreds of people in the second echelon, Gu Changsheng remained unhurried, leaving everyone behind and catching up to the first echelon ahead.

Unlike the hundreds in the second echelon, there were only three people in the first echelon.

Two males and one female.

The person at the very back was robust and tall, like an iron tower. His steps were firm and steady, enduring the immense pressure.

Gu Changsheng recognized him as a Cultivator from the Iron Pagoda Mountain Race.

The blue-robed woman in the middle had a Zhanblue spiritual light shimmering around her body, undulating like water. With every step, the spiritual light flickered, dispelling a portion of the immense force on her shoulders.

It was a peculiar method of clever evasion.

The most peculiar was the Tianmu Clan youth at the very front, who had three eyes.

His footwork was strange and unpredictable, yet his speed was not slow, steadily outperforming the other two.

Suddenly, the Iron Pagoda Mountain Race Saint Clan Cultivator caught sight of Gu Changsheng approaching from the corner of his eye.

He grinned, “I didn’t expect anyone else to actually fight their way up…”

Unlike the first two echelons, who ambushed competitors, these three disdained such actions.

“Strange, this person has no special method to dissipate force, nor does he possess the Tianmu Clan’s Dharma Eye to see through the force-avoiding nodes of the Formation, yet he actually climbed up.”

The Iron Pagoda Mountain Race strongman's eyes blazed with Battle Intent.

He hailed from the Iron Pagoda Mountain Race and was particularly skilled in Body Refining.

After transforming into a Saint Clan member, his demonic body became even stronger, allowing him to withstand the pressure of the stone steps. He hadn't expected someone to surpass him in this regard.

“Forget it. It’s not too late to make a move after reaching the summit…”

Little did he know, this decision had him walk a tightrope between life and death.

After thirty thousand steps, the pressure suddenly increased.

The water ripples on the blue-robed woman’s body fluctuated intensely, and the consumption of her force-dissipating method greatly increased.

The Formation also became increasingly complex, and the Tianmu Clan youth’s speed with each step grew slower and slower.

By the time they reached forty thousand steps, Gu Changsheng easily surpassed the last of the three, the Tietashan Saint Clan youth.

“This person’s Body Refining is truly terrifying… There isn’t even a single bead of sweat on his forehead…”

The Iron Pagoda Mountain Race youth thought to himself.

He immediately understood the gap between them.

After fifty thousand steps.

Gu Changsheng surpassed the blue-robed woman.

“Damn it!”

The blue-robed woman was somewhat indignant. Spiritual light surged around her body, and the Zhanblue water ripples fluctuated wildly. Her speed suddenly accelerated, and she once again reclaimed the second position.

However, after only a thousand steps, her speed gradually slowed down.

Moreover, her face was pale, looking utterly exhausted.

Looking back, Gu Changsheng’s speed remained unhurried.

“Two pieces of trash…”

The Tianmu Clan youth looked back, a look of disdain on his face.

However, after sixty thousand steps, Gu Changsheng actually caught up to the Tianmu Clan youth, with less than ten steps separating them.

“Hmm? He actually caught up…”

The Tianmu Clan youth frowned slightly, then sneered. A ray of light burst from the vertical eye on his forehead, and countless currents of Formation power appeared in his vision.

‘Good.’ He took a step, and his speed suddenly accelerated, quickly leaving Gu Changsheng far behind.

However, half an hour later, a familiar figure appeared behind him again.

“Damn it…”

A hint of surprise appeared in the Tianmu Clan youth’s eyes, and then he once again activated his Dharma Eye. A trickle of fresh blood slowly flowed from his vertical pupil.

The direction of the Formation’s power clearly appeared before his eyes, and his speed once again climbed.

This time, in less than a quarter of an hour, Gu Changsheng climbed up behind him, less than ten steps away.

“How is this possible…”

The Tianmu Clan youth’s eyes widened.

He was a Prodigy of the Tianmu Clan. The Grand Elder, a Peak Late Stage Profound Cave Cultivator within his clan, believed he had a chance to become the clan leader.

Yet, at this moment, he was losing to an unknown Senmu Clan member.

“No…”

The Tianmu Clan youth once again activated his Dharma Eye, and a sharp pain shot through his brow. This was a sign of excessive Divine Thought consumption.

Half an hour later, Gu Changsheng still caught up.

“I don’t believe it…”

The Tianmu Clan youth gritted his teeth, frantically activating his third vertical pupil. His mind suddenly felt empty, and a sharp pain erupted.

At the same time, his foot slipped. The Formation power, like an undercurrent, surged, and it felt as if a great mountain pressed down on his shoulders. He immediately wailed, his bones snapping, and collapsed to the ground.

“Alas, why bother…”

Gu Changsheng easily walked past the Tianmu Clan youth, still unhurriedly ascending.

Behind him, the Cultivators of the second and third echelons were all utterly shocked.

“He surpassed him! He actually reached first place!”

“Looking at how effortlessly this person moves, I estimate this is far from his limit.”

“Terrifying!”

Watching the Tianmu Clan youth suffer, the Tietashan Saint Clan youth and the blue-robed woman both spontaneously smiled.

Just now, the Tianmu Clan youth had been very arrogant.

A moment later, Gu Changsheng reached the seventy-thousandth step. His body emitted crackling sounds, and his muscles and bones gradually twisted under the immense pressure.

“Hmm… It’s almost at the limit of this body…”

The Senmu Clan was not inherently skilled in Body Refining. Even with Gu Changsheng’s Golden Source Blood Secret Art enhancement, it was only comparable to an ordinary Body Refining Genius.

“If that’s the case… I’ll use some clever tricks…”

A layer of Zhanblue water ripples surged around Gu Changsheng’s body, and a hint of purple flashed in his eyes. His vision suddenly changed dramatically. His footwork gradually became erratic, yet it possessed a unique rhythm.

His speed was as fast as lightning, taking dozens of steps in a single stride.

“This is… my family’s secret art, how could he…”

The blue-robed woman stared at Gu Changsheng, who was advancing at extreme speed, stunned speechless.

“How is this possible? How could that person see through the vital points of the Formation!”

The Tianmu Clan youth cried out in alarm.

The Iron Pagoda Mountain Race strongman stood dumbfounded, then a sense of absurdity surged in his heart.

“Damn it, it turns out this person was just toying with us earlier…”

Under everyone’s astonished gazes, Gu Changsheng stepped onto the one hundred thousandth step.

A golden light slowly descended, and a dark pool of water appeared before him, gurgling and bubbling, with wisps of pure Devilish Qi spreading out.