Everyone assumed Chi Miao would immediately press onward to higher steps, but at this moment, she stopped.
She stood motionless in place, then revealed a mischievous grin.
As if hinting at something, her voice suddenly became artificially sweet and affected:
“Oh my, how did I end up on the three hundredth step?”
Jin Shengfei: “?”
Chi Miao took a step back, landing on the two hundred ninety-ninth step.
“Oh my, how did I come back down?”
Jin Shengfei: “???”
The crowd: “???”
“Jin Shengfei, didn’t you say I was young and arrogant, that you didn’t think I could reach three hundred steps?”
“Look, I went up, I came down, up, down, up, down.”
The girl laughed brightly while shamelessly hopping back and forth between the three hundredth and two hundred ninety-ninth steps.
This scene left Jin Shengfei utterly dumbfounded.
“Chi Miao, are you insane!”
Chi Miao fiddled with her fingers while rolling her eyes: “I don’t know anything~ I went up, I came down.”
Pfft—!
The soul force pressure at the two hundredth step hadn’t crushed Jin Shengfei, but Chi Miao’s antics were truly about to infuriate him to death.
It was at this moment that he finally realized a truth he would consider absolutely correct for many years to come:
—Killing someone is straightforward, but never, ever provoke Chi Miao.
“Enough! Hurry up and ascend, or I’ll publicly go back on my word, and you won’t get a single Spirit Stone!”
Hearing this, Chi Miao quickly moved upward.
Her brisk, flying steps… were even more irritating.
The crowd: “…How despicable.”
The figures in the sky were also speechless.
“Putting talent aside for now, are you really sure these two have the temperament to become future powerhouses?”
Silence fell.
Sometimes, one really wished for an undo button to retract everything they’d said.
“At least they have talent.”
Not only did they have talent, but it was unimaginably high.
They were growing increasingly curious about the secrets surrounding Chi Miao.
The Yanluo Curse that had persisted for several cycles must have been cast by someone trying to suppress her growth.
And now, she had gained another Immortal Opportunity and reclaimed her talent.
Both her Spirit Root and soul force were beyond imagination…
Just who was Chi Miao?!
As she approached the four hundredth step, Chi Miao began to feel increasingly fatigued.
No one knew exactly how many steps the entire Heavenly Ladder had, but her achievement of reaching four hundred steps at the early Qi Refining stage was enough to set a new record that would likely remain unbroken for a thousand years!
The crowd gradually grew numb.
They just wanted to fast-forward to see which step Chi Miao would ultimately reach.
Watching any longer would shatter their Dao Hearts.
Because this was simply too monstrous, too heaven-defying.
Finally, they saw Chi Miao standing on the five hundredth step, blood beginning to seep from her entire body.
Tch, this hurts a bit.
Chi Miao could clearly sense that her bleeding wasn’t due to excessive damage to her soul, but rather physical compression.
But the Heavenly Ladder shouldn’t exert any physical pressure at all?
At this moment, Chi Miao had a bold idea.
Could it be that the ladder was growing impatient with her climbing so many steps?
Just as this thought crossed her mind,
A voice suddenly echoed in her ears. It didn’t sound human, more like the low murmur of some ancient deity, profound and archaic:
“Countless talents exist in this world. For Qi Refining practitioners entering the Heavenly Ladder, one hundred steps is excellent, two hundred is extreme, three hundred is peerless, and five hundred is the peak. Today, the talented girl Chi Miao has ascended five hundred steps. Blessings be bestowed!”
As the words fell, the several streams of light from the Heavenly Ladder converged into a mysterious yet warm force, directly entering Chi Miao’s body.
Amidst a swirling vortex of Qi around her, Chi Miao felt her power undergo an unprecedented surge.
Mid-stage Qi Refining!
Everyone was stunned, staring dumbfounded at the scene before them.
“A… a blessing? The Heavenly Ladder actually bestows blessings? This is unheard of!”
“No way, she broke through again? How does she level up as easily as drinking water!”
Even the elders in the sky were bewildered.
“No one ever said the Heavenly Ladder grants blessings!”
“This… the heavens of the Cultivation World are about to change!”
“This girl is no ordinary talent!”
If they had previously judged Chi Miao’s talent based on experience alone, now her aptitude was certified by the natural laws of heaven and earth as the pinnacle of Qi Refining!
What made them even more apprehensive was…
In the eyes of the heavenly laws, reaching one hundred steps was considered excellent, two hundred steps was extraordinary, and three hundred steps was peerless.
Over all these years, those in the Qi Refining stage who could climb two hundred steps were few and far between. Only a batch like Ying WuHuo, hailed as peerless geniuses, could achieve it—and not a single one had reached three hundred steps.
Didn’t this imply…
That their Cultivation World was utterly incompetent?
“Hiss—”
Everyone gasped in shock.
No wonder no one had ascended to immortality in the Cultivation World for so many years!
This revelation was truly staggering.
As the elders exchanged bewildered glances, Chi Miao was ecstatic.
“If five hundred steps let me break through directly, what if I climb higher? Will there be more blessings?”
“Could I reach Foundation Establishment or even the Golden Core Stage? Excellent! Little ladder, just watch how I climb you to death!”
Motivation surged!
Chi Miao, eager and ready, rubbed her hands together and prepared to continue climbing.
Before her, a golden stream of light formed a single word:
“Scram.”
As the word appeared, Chi Miao felt an immense force violently repelling her, its power overwhelming.
“Ahhhhhhhhh!”
Damn, this was the five-hundredth step—falling from here would kill her, right?
Fortunately, Jin Shengfei reacted in time and caught her.
After thanking him, Chi Miao cursed at the Heavenly Ladder: “Are you insane, you stupid staircase? Isn’t the whole point of being a staircase to be climbed? What’s wrong with giving out some blessings? I earned them with my own effort! And you try to hurt me? No manners! Cheapskate!”
“???”
This left everyone utterly confused.
“What… what’s going on now?” The elders were baffled.
After a long silence, He Wanban slowly spoke: “The Heavenly Ladder is an ancient divine artifact, imbued with spiritual essence. Over the years, it has likely developed a spirit of its own.”
“We understand it developing a spirit, but… why would it say ‘scram’?”
He Wanban fell silent again before piecing together a reasonable explanation: “Perhaps, maybe, it’s because… the Heavenly Ladder couldn’t stand her thick skin anymore.”
“…”
A perfect explanation.
They glanced at Chi Miao again, now surrounded by a crowd asking questions—clearly, today’s events had made her the “big star” among this batch of newcomers.
No, more than that.
“The Heavenly Ladder’s blessing will make her begin to stand out across the entire Cultivation World.”
Elder Yan: “Then what about how I deliberately concealed her talent yesterday by saying ‘what’s so special about a Root Value of eighty-nine’?”
The crowd fell silent: “…That counts as you talking nonsense.”
Elder Yan: “…”
Never mind.
“Speaking of which, the next round of testing is the Sword Cemetery, right?”
“Correct, but the Sect Master mentioned that the sword seems to have awakened.”
Hearing this, the others’ pupils constricted sharply.
“Are you referring to that particular sword?”
“Yes… the sword belonging to the founding ancestor’s close friend, the one hailed as the Sword Master during that golden era of flourishing talents—his sword… awakened yesterday.”