Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Subsequently, the sloppy young man raised his hand and pointed at the air. A crimson energy shot out and struck the space barrier.
Duan Ling Tian instantly felt a pulling force sweeping in from all directions. His surroundings alternated between darkness for a while before he realized he had arrived at a new place.
This realm was not as dark as the one before. A huge luminous pearl hung in the air, illuminating the entire place.
Duan Ling Tian found himself standing in a stone forest with various tall rocks. For a long time, he did not see anyone else at all. He knew he had climbed to the second step, meaning he was now in the second small realm. As for why he did not see anyone, he speculated his opponent must be hiding.
Duan Ling Tian swept his surroundings with his Divine Consciousness and soon detected an aura hidden behind a huge rock not far away.
As soon as the person sensed Duan Ling Tian’s Divine Consciousness, he revealed himself immediately. He was a young man with a stern expression. He was dressed in a spotless blue robe, and he looked clean. He was the total opposite of the sloppy young man from the first small realm. He did not look like he had been imprisoned in this place for a long time.
Swoosh!
The stern young man looked at Duan Ling Tian indifferently. Without saying a word, he mobilized his Divine Energy that had been boosted with the law of water.
Duan Ling Tian finally discovered why the young man remained clean despite being imprisoned here. As it turned out, the young man had comprehended the law of water. He could sense the young man was much stronger than the sloppy young man he had met in the first small realm. This young man had comprehended all of the profundities from the law of water to the mastery stage. However, the young man had yet to comprehend any Fused Profundities. Similar to the sloppy young man, he was also an intermediate god.
Duan Ling Tian silently made his move. In just a moment, a raging spatial energy swept out, easily crushing his opponent’s attack before injuring and sending his opponent flying.
The young man spat out a mouthful of blood before he looked at Duan Ling Tian fearfully. As though he was afraid Duan Ling Tian would attack again, he hurriedly activated the Teleportation Formation to send Duan Ling Tian away.
Just like that, Duan Ling Tian had reached the third step and entered the third realm. Like before, he had easily defeated his opponent.
The inner disciple imprisoned in the third small realm was still an intermediate god. He had comprehended all of the profundities of the law of metal to the mastery stage and had begun to comprehend double Fused Profundities. Needless to say, his strength was still inferior to Duan Ling Tian’s. In just a second, he was defeated by Duan Ling Tian with just one move.
The situation was the same on the fourth and fifth steps.
However, on the sixth step, Duan Ling Tian had to expend more effort to defeat his opponent. Naturally, this was only because he was hiding his true strength. If he had used all his strength, he would have defeated his opponent in just a blink of an eye.
On the seventh step, Duan Ling Tian’s opponent was an advanced god who had comprehended a double Fused Profundity.
Since Duan Ling Tian was unwilling to use his full strength, he was having difficulties dealing with his opponent.
‘Hmm?’ When Duan Ling Tian was in the midst of the battle, he discovered his Divine Energy had suddenly surged. Then, he realized he had successfully broken through the bottleneck and became an advanced god.
‘I had a breakthrough?’
Seeing that Duan Ling Tian had a breakthrough, not only was his opponent fearless, but his opponent charged forward even more aggressively than before. This was because he knew it took time for one’s foundation to stabilize after a breakthrough and for one’s Divine Energy to transform. He planned to launch a sneak attack at this moment. If he was successful, he was sure he would win the battle.
Swoosh!
Alas, Duan Ling Tian had foreseen his opponent would make a move. He teleported again and again as his opponent attacked in a flurry.
Just as Duan Ling Tian’s cultivation base stabilized along with his Divine Energy, his eyes flashed coldly. He stopped teleporting before he said, “Since you have a death wish, I’ll fulfill your wish!”
As his opponent charged forward again, Duan Ling Tian cast the Mastery Dao, one of the Four Daos of Heaven and Earth. Spatial energy raged around him, killing his opponent in just an instant.
This was the first person he killed since he entered the Heavenly Stairs. He did not kill his previous opponents since they did not have conflicts between them.
After killing his opponent, Duan Ling Tian sat cross-legged on the ground to further stabilize his cultivation base and facilitate the transformation of his Divine Energy.
…
Outside of the Heavenly Stairs.
Most of the eyes of the inner disciples, including Tang Wu Yan, were glued to the Heavenly Stairs. To be precise, they were glued to the spot of light that represented Duan Ling Tian.
Earlier, the spot of light had risen rapidly from the first to the sixth step. Finally, it had slowed down. In fact, after waiting for a while, they discovered the spot of light stayed on the seventh floor. It did not dim, but it did not move up to the eighth step.
Seeing this, one inner disciple sighed. “I think the seventh step is as far as he’ll go.”
“The fact that he managed to reach the seventh step despite being an intermediate god is amazing enough. As expected of the monstrous prodigy from Skywind City’s Hidden Fog Academy. He really lives up to his reputation!”
“That’s right! Even the ten strongest inner disciples couldn’t reach the seventh step when they were still intermediate gods.”
“Even if he can’t move up from the seventh step, he should still be proud of himself.”
Tang Wu Yan did not pay attention to the conversations around her. Instead, she was staring at the spot of light that represented Duan Ling Tian. At the same time, a hopeful expression could be seen on her face.
At the same time, a spot of light on the eighth floor vanished, and a person appeared outside of the Heavenly Stairs. He was a tall and handsome young man dressed in a brown and blue robe. As soon as he appeared, he attracted the attention of many female disciples. They looked at him with bright eyes as though they wished they could pounce him immediately.
“Senior Brother Qi Yu!”
“Senior Brother Qi Yu has come out. Although he still has yet to climb past the eighth step, he stayed on the eighth step longer than before. I feel like he’s going to rank first this time!”
“Senior Brother Qi Yu is really amazing!”
The inner disciples looked at Qi Yu and praised him to the high heavens. Their optimism toward Qi Yu was a stark contrast to their pessimism toward Duan Ling Tian.
Qi Yu was clearly pleased by the praises, based on the proud expression on his face. When he saw Tang Wu Yan, his eyes lit up, and his expression softened immediately. He returned the Heavenly Stairs Token back to the elder before he walked over to Tang Wu Yan and asked with a smile, “Junior Sister Wu Yan, did you just arrive or did you just come out from the Heavenly Stairs?”
“Senior Brother Qi Yu,” Tang Wu Yan greeted Qi Yu before saying, “I’ve yet to enter the Heavenly Stairs.”
“Oh?” Qi Yu asked, “Are you going to enter now then? Junior Sister Wu Yan, I remember you were on the seventh step for quite a long time previously and even made it into the top ten. This time, you must have a greater chance of climbing up to the eighth step. It seems like I’ll have the honor of watching you advance to the eighth step today.”
Qi Yu was very enthusiastic toward Tang Wu Yan. Naturally, this was because he liked Tang Wu Yan. This matter was not a secret in the Hidden Fog Sect. Many male inner disciples did not dare to express their affection to Tang Wu Yan due to their fear of Qi Yu.
“I don’t plan to challenge the Heavenly Stairs for now. I’m waiting for my friend to come out,” Tang Wu Yan replied. She was not particularly cold nor friendly toward Qi Yu.
Although Qi Yu was rather strong, his reputation was rather bad. As far as Tang Wu Yan knew, there were no fewer than five female inner disciples who had intimate relations with him. Those female disciples did not seem to mind his promiscuity so as an outsider, Tang Wu Yan did not have an opinion on it either. Nonetheless, her impression of Qi Yu was not good.
“Your friend? Who is it? Do I know him?” Qi Yu asked with a smile.
“I think so,” Tang Wu Yan glanced at Qi Yu as she slowly said, “After all, Senior Brother Qi Yu, you’ve been challenging him once every month over the past three months.”
Qi Yu’s eyes widened as he asked with a hint of disbelief, “Junior Sister Wu Yan, the friend you mentioned is Duan Ling Tian?”
“Yes.” Tang Wu Yan nodded. Then, she turned back to look at the spot of light that represented Duan Ling Tian without sparing another glance at Qi Yu.
Upon seeing this, Qi Yu’s expression soured as he clenched his hands tightly. His eyes glinted coldly as he followed the direction of Tang Wu Yan’s gaze. Previously, he only targeted Duan Ling Tian because of Tu Feng. However, because of Tang Wu Yan, even if Tu Feng did not say anything, he would still continue to challenge Duan Ling Tian.
This was the first time Qi Yu had seen Tang Wu Yan showing so much interest in a man, after all. He had never received such treatment from her before. How could he not be jealous of Duan Ling Tian?
…
Duan Ling Tian was unaware that Qi Yu had left the eighth step nor was he aware that Qi Yu now held a personal grudge against him.
After becoming an advanced god and stabilizing his cultivation base and Divine Energy, he rose to his feet and muttered to himself, “Alright, let’s advance to the eighth step.”