428: Fighting again at Holy Emperor Mountain

Wan Lin began climbing Sacred Emperor Mountain once again.

Just like the first time he climbed, the winding mountain path twisted upward. It wasn't paved with bricks, and it couldn't even be called a basic dirt road; the exposed rocks were quite jagged, and overall, it was barely passable for someone to slowly make their way up.

For a Cultivator, such terrain was nothing; even if it wasn't as flat as a plain, at the very least, one could move with agility.

In short, it was not an obstacle at all.

But when this terrain was combined with the unique gravity of the Trial Grounds, the situation changed.

Even Li Changfeng would have to honestly crawl, inching forward like a bug.

When Wan Lin first came, he was in a similarly sorry state, barely managing to grind his way to the first layer, which was the Dead Flesh Layer.

This time, he had practiced the Sage Emperor Body Tempering Method, his Physical Body was strengthened, and his Spiritual Sense was opened, making him a Ninth-Grade Cultivator with the confidence to challenge the second layer.

Then...

As soon as he stepped onto Sacred Emperor Mountain, he immediately felt a pressure even greater than before slamming down on him.

He nearly stumbled and fell.

"It's just as Li Changfeng said, the higher the cultivation, the greater the pressure..."

Wan Lin forced himself to take steps upward, his posture beginning to become somewhat awkward.

No one knew exactly what the Sacred Emperor Mountain trial was trying to select for.

But everyone unanimously agreed that mediocrities were definitely not among those chosen to pass.

Therefore, the heavy pressure corresponding to each Realm was likely designed to be above the average standard.

At lower Realms, the gap between everyone was small, and it was hard to say there was a huge difference between a Genius and a mediocrity, so you might not feel it clearly.

But when reaching high Realms, the gap between a Genius and a mediocrity at the same Realm would be magnified significantly, making you feel as if they weren't even people of the same Realm.

Therefore, the players all knew that with their talent, if they wanted to clear Sacred Emperor Mountain at a high Realm, the transaction points needed to purchase talent, Physique, etc., would likely be very high.

Thus, the best choice was to challenge it while at a low Realm.

But this presented another problem: if one remained stuck at a low Realm and delayed the Breakthrough, they would miss out on other Opportunities and even waste their Lifespan in vain.

Simply put:

The time for challenging Sacred Emperor Mountain was limited for an individual.

Wan Lin was very clear that he had already spent enough time in the Mortal stage, and if he dragged it out any longer, he would enter middle age or even his later years, which would be unhelpful for a Breakthrough.

He had to successfully reach the top of Sacred Emperor Mountain while he was still young, then seize the time to complete his Breakthrough.

"I can do it, I definitely can..."

Wan Lin dragged his body step by step upward, his gaze firm.

His bones began to make cracking sounds; the Boiling Blood Hegemon Body took effect, constantly healing his injuries, which consequently brought immense pain.

Wan Lin did not change his expression, only blindly pushing forward.

Finally, he arrived at the Dead Flesh Layer he had reached once before.

The entire platform was made of writhing chunks of flesh, which made him want to vomit just looking at them.

He did not waste time, continuing forward and looking at the cliff that had once blocked him.

It was a full mile high.

The footholds he had once smashed out with his fists had been restored by the power of Sacred Emperor Mountain, and the entire cliff appeared straight and smooth.

Even the best rock climbers on Blue Star would be helpless if they saw it.

Not to mention that the further up one went, the more terrible the pressure became.

Last time, Wan Lin climbed for a whole day, but only managed to climb a hundred meters before becoming completely exhausted and unable to continue.

This time, his gaze was resolute; he swore to successfully climb it.

"Alright! I'm going to start climbing!"

After rubbing his hands together in preparation, Wan Lin took deep breaths to keep his state of mind in the best condition.

Finally, he took a step forward...

"Hm?"

Suddenly, as if sensing something, he whipped his head around and looked outside Sacred Emperor Mountain.

Then he froze, stiff in place.

A huge, straight ladder made of hard minerals was tilting from the outside toward the inside of Sacred Emperor Mountain.

With a loud clatter, the ladder landed on Sacred Emperor Mountain.

Then, Wan Lin heard bursts of noisy shouting.

Then he saw a scene he would never forget in his life:

A male player wearing a fluorescent green windbreaker, a red helmet, and a wrench and hammer tucked into his waist was running along the ladder with an excited expression.

Behind him, swarms of players were running wildly in a massive crowd.

Wan Lin was dumbfounded.

Wait, what is going on?

He watched helplessly as the players stepped on the ladder, surpassed his height, and quickly disappeared, reaching higher levels.

You couldn't even say they were as light as swallows.

Damn it, it was practically like they had enabled a speed hack.

"What the hell?"

Wan Lin's brain was buzzing; he hadn't reacted yet.

But in the end, he wasn't a native of the cultivation world with rigid thinking.

He quickly understood:

During the time he had been challenging Sacred Emperor Mountain, some players had thought of a clever method.

That was to build long ladders that could reach directly from the foot of the mountain to the top.

When the ladder lay tilted against it, the players stepping on it were within the range of the Sacred Emperor Mountain barrier to reach the Legacy, while also avoiding the heavy pressure inside Sacred Emperor Mountain.

Although he didn't know the specific principle, nor why the Sacred Emperor would leave such an obvious loophole.

But Wan Lin knew that these damn players had found a shortcut to clear the level like a bug!

"Fuck! Dammit!"

Wan Lin was stunned for a long time before he cursed at the cold wind.

After a long while.

He muttered:

"Impossible! There is absolutely no way there's such an easy way to clear the level!

"The Sacred Emperor isn't so stupid as to leave such an obvious loophole.

"These ladder-climbers will definitely be completely crushed by the heavy pressure at some height later on..."

He muttered a bunch.

It was like he was complaining and comforting himself.

Finally, Wan Lin couldn't stand it himself and slapped himself.

"Wan Lin, oh Wan Lin, what are you wavering about?

"Have you forgotten? The end of the trial is not the true destination.

"What's important about the trial is the trial itself.

"That's why you endure the pain of the Physical Body and persist in moving forward step by step!"

After reciting this sentence by sentence to keep himself clear-headed.

Wan Lin did not choose to leave the Sacred Emperor Mountain trial to use other players' ladders to go up.

He didn't even log into the Forum to check the discussions of other players.

He just blindly kept moving upward and forward, letting his Physical Body undergo the baptism of gravity.

"How can a brain that plays tricks compare to my Physical Body that has undergone tempering? Hmph!"

Wan Lin said no more, just punching the cliff one fist after another, forcibly chiseling out a path, and then difficultly moving upward step by step.

The further up he went, the greater the pressure he felt.

He didn't know how long had passed.

There was a sound from the outside again; a second ladder landed on top of the first one, and the player in the windbreaker led the charge again.

Then came the third, the fourth...

The height and posture were constantly changing.

They seemed to be looking for the blind spots of gravity.

But Wan Lin knew nothing of this, nor did he care.

He had closed his mouth, withdrawn his Spiritual Sense, and even plugged his own ears, just continuing to move upward step by step under the suppression of gravity.