“Damn, we're all geniuses, so how are you two running so fast?”
On the staircase, Qi Changqing, who was in third place, looked at the faint figures of Ye Lin and Lin Luoxian ahead of him, and couldn't help but pucker his lips.
Honestly, he now had a genuine Saint-grade talent anyway, so how was he still being left so far behind?
“Little Book, oh Little Book, you're really not pulling your weight here, are you? It's one thing that I can't catch up to Brother Ye, but how can I not even compare to an unknown Lin Luoxian?”
After thinking it over, Qi Changqing ultimately shifted the blame to the mysterious book in his mind.
The mysterious book: “?”
‘If you want to become stronger, how about dying right now? Once you're dead, you can settle your life rewards.’ The mysterious book was so angered that words manifested on it.
“Forget it, forget it. There's nothing wrong with being third. Besides, even if you went all out, you still wouldn't be able to make me catch up to Brother Ye.”
Seeing that the mysterious book wanted him to die right off the bat, Qi Changqing hurriedly shook his head.
What Qi Changqing did not know was that the third place he occupied was actually a rank that countless geniuses dreamed of.
But people were just like that sometimes. Their eyes were entirely fixed on the far horizon, not caring in the slightest about what the view behind them was like.
In the crowd, although Jiang Ningzhi and Chu Kuang could be considered excellent geniuses, their level was only comparable to the top geniuses of the other Yellow-grade Cultivation Academies.
However, everyone had their own path in life and their own aspirations. Ye Lin, Lin Luoxian, and the others were fighting for the very peak of the flowing water, the peak of geniuses, and the peak of the myriad worlds.
Meanwhile, they were like water that did not strive to be first but strove to flow endlessly. As for how far they could go, no one could say for sure.
As for the geniuses of the other Yellow-grade Cultivation Academies, looking at the three figures who were leading by an insurmountable margin, they marveled at how monstrous and abnormal those three were while simultaneously doing everything they could to fight for the fourth to twentieth ranks.
At the very front of the staircase, Ye Lin was already far ahead, having reached past the 900th step.
The Immortal-Ascending Staircase only had 1,000 steps in total, and he had already traversed ninety percent of it.
The first part of this staircase tested endurance and foundation; the middle part tested one's Dao Heart; and the latter part added a test of talent and comprehension.
“There's really no difficulty at all.” Laughing as he shook his head, Ye Lin accelerated once more, rushing toward the 1,000th step at the very top of the staircase.
Hearing his words, everyone below who was watching this climb couldn't help but stamp their feet in frustration.
One had to know that the vast majority of people present had only reached around the hundredth step on the staircase back then, which was already the limit of their potential.
Even Baili Xuan, the Second Elder of the Outer Academy, had only reached a little over two hundred steps.
But now, after this guy Ye Lin rushed past the 900th step, he suddenly said there was no difficulty at all. If they understood modern slang, they would definitely say that Ye Lin was flexing way too hard. And it wasn't just ordinary flexing, but ultimate, unrestrained flexing, the kind that reached the heavens.
Meanwhile, inside a hidden dao field somewhere in the Sacred Domain, a dozen white-haired old men pushed open the lids of their stone coffins, their eyes shining as they stared at the projection on the immortal artifact in front of them.
The projection showed the exact scene of Ye Lin and the others climbing the Immortal-Ascending Staircase.
“Hahaha, heaven truly does not want me dead! Just as my lifespan is nearing its end, a peerless genius capable of reaching the top of the staircase has actually appeared in the ant-like lands below the Sacred Domain.
“As long as I can possess him or refine his foundation of attaining the Dao, I will surely be able to live another life and attempt the road to immortality once more.”
Among the ten people, the shriveled old man at the very front suddenly laughed in a sinister manner.
“Hehe, the girl in second place is not bad either. It's about time for this old woman's decaying remnant body to be swapped for a new one.”
The hunched, one-eyed old crone in second place laughed greedily.
“You two, shouldn't we first find out about their backgrounds?”
“With such talent and temperament, they don't look like geniuses from some small place. Instead, they seem more like the geniuses sent to the lower realm for tempering by certain great clans in the Sacred Domain.”
At this moment, the thin, emaciated old man in third place pondered aloud.
Hearing this, the smiles on the faces of the shriveled old man and the hunched old crone froze slightly.
“Hmph, I'm definitely taking this kid. No matter his background, at worst, all ten of us Loose Immortals will set out together. At that time, what family or Sacred Land could possibly stop us?” the shriveled old man snorted coldly.
In the past, he would have definitely listened to the emaciated old man. After all, no power in the Sacred Domain was to be trifled with, and each possessed unimaginable foundations.
But now, his lifespan was almost depleted. If he could not find a suitable genius to possess or plunder a Dao foundation from, he would have no choice but to die from natural exhaustion and enter the cycle of reincarnation.
Having painfully cultivated for ten thousand years to reach his current position, who would be willing to enter the cycle of reincarnation?
Thus, seeing Ye Lin at this moment drove him mad with desire.
“Rumble!”
Unfortunately, Ye Lin was now a Tier 7 Child of Fortune. His luck was so incredibly powerful that he was definitely among the top three existences on the Heavenly Desolation Continent.
So, just as the shriveled old man made up his mind to capture Ye Lin, a sword cultivator of terrifying strength arrived outside their dao field in the very next instant.
And the moment that sword cultivator appeared, he did not hesitate to slash their dao field into ruins with a single strike of his sword.
“Who are you? How dare you break into the dao field of us, the Ten Old Immortals! Do you have a death wish?”
Seeing their dao field suddenly destroyed, the Ten Old Immortals rushed out one after another, carrying their coffins.
“Bah! A bunch of heartless, ungrateful beasts like you dare to call yourselves immortals?”
“Back then, you took advantage of my youth and tried to gouge out my immortal bones. If I hadn't barely escaped with my life, I would have long since become just another set of forgotten bones in your hands.”
“I have come today to slay you all, so that you may never harm anyone else again.”
Hearing these ten bone-devouring demons actually calling themselves the Ten Old Immortals, the young sword immortal sneered.
Without hesitation, he stepped on thunder and slashed out with his sword.
“And here I was wondering who it was. So it's just the ant who fled back then, completely disregarding the lives of his family.”
“Do you really think you can shake our ten-thousand-year foundation after cultivating for a mere century? Wishful thinking.”
“Let's attack together, severely wound him, and divide his Dao foundation among ourselves!”
Upon recognizing who the sword cultivator was, the shriveled old man, the Old Man of Cold Mountain, instantly transformed into a phantom of a massive mountain and crashed violently toward the approaching sword cultivator.
Seeing this, the other nine also unleashed their respective powers of law. Some transformed into fire phantoms, some into river phantoms, and some into withered tree phantoms.
A world-shaking battle thus broke out, all due to a twist of fate.
On the other side, more than two hours later, the Heaven-Ascending Staircase assessment completely came to an end.
Without a doubt, both Ye Lin and Lin Luoxian had reached the top at the 1,000th step of the staircase. Since Qi Changqing's talent had not been upgraded yet, he could only reach around the 800th step.
As for the other geniuses, the most outstanding among them only reached around the 500th step.
“Congratulations on successfully passing both promotion assessments. Next, I will announce the top twenty...”
With all the assessments finished, Baili Xuan was preparing to announce the rankings and distribute the well-deserved rewards.
Right at that moment, however, a cold shout suddenly resounded from the horizon.
“Hold on. I believe these rankings need to be adjusted.”
Hearing these words, all the outer disciples wore expressions of anticipation, silently cheering in their hearts that the scene they had been waiting for had finally arrived.
Rate on N.U.
