Looking in the direction Shan Ting was pointing, Zhenren Qianli felt his head buzzing.
In his eyes, Ye Yu—who was merely an Earth Immortal—being the master of an Immortal Sect was already absurd.
After all, this was the era following the great calamity of the Heavenly Realm, an exceptionally unusual time.
Back before the great calamity, let alone someone in the Earth Immortal Realm, even a peak Heaven Immortal wouldn’t have qualified to establish an Immortal Sect.
But what Qianli hadn’t expected at all…
Was that Ye Yu, this Earth Immortal, wasn’t even the master of the sect. His sect master was actually just a peak Mystic Immortal fairy!
What the f?!*
What the hell had happened to the Heavenly Realm?
Had everyone gone mad?
Wait a minute… something’s off!
In that short amount of time, Zhuo Lanqing had already stepped onto the tenth step of the ascension stairway.
How was that even possible?
It completely shattered the previous records of the Taiyan Dao Sect.
One must know—no Mystic Immortal had ever reached beyond the fifth step.
This alone proved that this “fairy” was clearly not as simple as she appeared!
Qianli’s expression turned grim as he looked further up.
Ye Yu already had one foot on the fiftieth step.
And it was only now that the true trial of the ascension stairway had begun.
I’m truly looking forward to seeing how high you can climb!
Ye Yu’s expression grew slightly more serious, and his tightly shut eyes began to tremble with effort.
At this moment, it felt as if he had entered a world shrouded in fog and shadow.
Thunder rumbled around him.
“Audacious immortal! How dare you trespass upon the peak of the heavens! This is not a place for the likes of you. Leave immediately, and you may yet be spared. Otherwise, you will be executed without mercy!”
A thunderous voice roared.
Ye Yu looked up and saw a towering giant, over ten zhang tall, wielding a massive sword, appearing before him.
The giant’s ferocious face radiated pure intimidation.
From him, Ye Yu felt an overwhelming pressure like he had never known before.
Even a peak Immortal Lord couldn’t possibly exert such a force.
Could this giant actually be an Immortal Sovereign?
Just as Ye Yu wrestled with that thought—five more golden-armored giants appeared, each holding a different magical artifact.
Their voices boomed like temple bells, shouting sternly:
“You lowly immortal, why are you dawdling? Do you have a death wish?!”
“Why waste words with him? Just kill him already!”
“Let me do it. No need to dirty your hands!”
“Foolish and ignorant!”
One of the golden-armored giants pulled out an enormous tower, inscribed with countless runes and glowing with a brilliant blue light.
With a sudden motion, he hurled it into the air.
The tower sparkled with a few blinding flashes—then transformed into a colossal mountain range, crashing down toward Ye Yu.
In a blink, it was already above his head.
Ye Yu tried to dodge, only to find that his body was completely empty—no trace of immortal energy within.
He had no choice but to take it head-on!
Ye Yu raised both arms high, bracing for a final stand.
BOOM!
When the enormous mountain landed, it shattered into pieces and slowly vanished.
Ye Yu was left drenched in blood.
This was the first time he had ever come so close to death—while not in a dream.
The golden-armored giants were visibly shocked.
“Oh? You’re still alive after that? I guess you’re one lucky bastard. And your physique isn’t bad either—quite promising!”
“Kneel and kowtow, and I’ll take you as my disciple. What do you say?”
The other giants chimed in as well:
“Kneel!!”
“Kneel at once!!”
“This is a heaven-sent opportunity for you, boy! Kneel!”
The voices of the golden-armored giants grew louder and louder—Ye Yu felt himself falling into a daze.
But in the very next second—a fury surged from deep within his heart.
Just a moment ago they were trying to kill him, and now they wanted him to kneel?
Who the hell did they think they were?
Ye Yu used all his strength to raise his right hand—and suddenly clenched his fist!
At that instant, a glowing formation appeared beneath the feet of each golden-armored giant. Immediately after, a black heavenly flame erupted from within their bodies.
This was the forbidden technique—Blood Burning Heavenly Flame!
In just a flash—those towering giants were reduced to dust, completely disintegrating.
The surrounding scene began to distort and shift, before finally returning to normal.
The wounds in Ye Yu’s body vanished as well.
Everything that had just happened—had been nothing more than an illusion!
And at that moment, Ye Yu opened his eyes.
Seeing this scene—Zhenren Qianli and Shan Ting were both stunned.
How could this be possible?!
Was there a malfunction with the stairway of heaven?
Everyone who set foot on the platform was supposed to enter a dreamlike trance to confront the deepest fears in their heart.
So how had Ye Yu opened his eyes?
They weren’t the only ones confused—even the other Immortal Sect masters around them sensed something was off.
But no one suspected there was a problem with the ascension stairway itself—after all, it was an immortal artifact.
Instead, they speculated it might be one of the stairway’s unique traits:
The first fifty steps are climbed with eyes closed.
The remaining forty-nine are climbed with eyes open.
A kind of reincarnation, perhaps.
Some clueless sect masters even walked up to Qianli to ask if their theory was correct.
Faced with such a question—Qianli was practically ready to kill someone.
Correct? Correct, my ass!!
Ye Yu, meanwhile, kept his gaze fixed forward, completely ignoring the reactions below. He continued climbing step by step.
Even after opening his eyes, he was still subjected to all kinds of trials and illusions.
But with the experience of the first fifty steps behind him—Ye Yu now had only one thought in mind.
No matter what stood in his way—it could be summed up with a single word:“Kill!”
With this single-minded momentum, Ye Yu never faltered again—steadily ascending until he reached the ninety-ninth step.
Looking back—he saw that Duan Yangfeng was still stuck at the thirty-first step.
Behind him, Zhuo Lanqing and Zheng Nuannxiu were at the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth steps respectively.
Very close together.
This surprised Ye Yu—he hadn’t expected that they had also stepped onto the ascension stairway.
Now this is interesting.
Ye Yu immediately sent them both a voice transmission: “Everything is an illusion. Everything can be killed.”
The two women trembled slightly.
Then, with renewed resolve, they each took another step forward.
After that, Ye Yu didn’t urge them again. He simply stood quietly, watching their progress.
After half an hour passed—the final results were out.
Duan Yangfeng—who in the previous dream had obtained the Four Symbols Ink Bamboo Robe—only reached the fifty-first step.
Zhuo Lanqing made it to the seventy-eighth step.
But the most shocking—Zheng Nuannxiu reached the ninety-eighth step. Only one step away from Ye Yu.
This performance left everyone present in an uproar.
Some even began to suspect that Taiyan Dao Sect was cheating.
Otherwise, why couldn’t they climb that high? Yet Ye Yu and these two “fairies” had ascended so smoothly?
It was downright unbelievable.
When Duan Yangfeng woke up, he couldn’t accept the results either.
He kept shouting—
“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!!”
Seeing the crowd grow increasingly agitated—Zhenren Qianli didn’t say a word.
He stepped forward directly, placed his hand on the stairway of heaven, and calmly sensed its condition.
Then he spoke in a low voice:
“The ascension stairway is functioning perfectly. These results are valid. Anyone who’s dissatisfied—feel free to try again.”
Upon hearing this, the entire scene went dead silent.
As the saying goes: No comparison, no humiliation.
They had all been on the stairway once already. They knew firsthand how terrifying it was.
Even if they tried again—the result wouldn’t change.
So why go up just to embarrass themselves?