Chapter 74: Malice

But he knew in his heart that if he were in the Grotto-Heaven Realm, or even the Dao Severing Realm, he wouldn’t have to struggle like this.

A wave of his hand would be enough to sweep aside a vast crowd.

That would be a true dimensional strike.

But right now, he was only in the Qi Refining Stage.

Although his power level was high, his cultivation realm was too low, limiting the power he could actually unleash.

“I need to raise my realm as soon as possible…”

Chen Ping muttered.

*

In the distance, a dead silence fell over the crowd.

Everyone was staring at the figure lying on the ground.

Nine hundred thousand puppets at the peak of Foundation Establishment.

Five hours.

All slaughtered.

“Is… is he even human…”

Someone muttered.

No one answered.

Because everyone was too shocked to speak.

*

On the Heavenly Stairway, a brilliant light shone, paving a path for Chen Ping.

Chen Ping struggled to his feet.

He brushed the dust off his clothes and picked up the cracked Qingfeng Sword.

Then, he took a step forward and set foot on the first step.

Behind him lay countless gazes of awe and shock.

But he did not look back.

The moment he stepped onto the Heavenly Stairway, a strange energy swept through his body.

The energy was as warm and gentle as water, surging up from the soles of his feet and instantly flowing through his limbs and bones.

All his fatigue, soreness, and depleted spiritual energy vanished in an instant.

Chen Ping paused, looking down at his hands.

Inside him, the dimmed purple-gold light cluster glowed brilliantly once more.

Even the cracks on the Qingfeng Sword were slowly healing.

“How miraculous…”

He muttered.

This Heavenly Stairway actually possessed its own restorative power.

*

Chen Ping looked up.

The Heavenly Stairway was incredibly long, stretching upward step by step, leading directly to the palace floating in the sky.

On both sides of the stairs was a bottomless abyss, with occasional clouds drifting by, obscuring the view below.

Hundreds of people were already standing on the Heavenly Stairway.

Some of them were climbing upward with great difficulty, each step like carrying a mountain.

Others had stopped in their tracks, panting heavily with flushed faces.

A few were even sprawled on the ground, unable to move at all.

Every step was a struggle.

This was Chen Ping’s first impression.

*

He lifted his foot and stepped onto the first step.

An invisible pressure instantly surged from all directions.

The pressure pierced straight through to his soul and penetrated deep into his flesh, as if trying to crush him from the inside out.

Chen Ping raised an eyebrow.

This pressure was indeed quite intense.

Any ordinary cultivator in the Qi Refining Stage would probably have their soul and body obliterated on the very first step.

But to him, it was simply, “Not bad.”

He took another step, moving to the second.

The third.

The fourth.

…

Every step was steady and powerful, as if the terrifying pressure did not exist at all.

*

A moment later, Chen Ping had already caught up to the dozens of people ahead of him.

These people were hunched over, gritting their teeth as they slowly shuffled upward step by step.

With every step, they had to stop and catch their breath for a long time.

Suddenly, they felt someone passing by.

Looking up, they saw a young man in a green robe walking past them with a calm expression.

His steps were steady.

His breathing was even.

He even seemed to have the leisure to look around.

“This…”

A middle-aged man’s eyes widened.

He was in the late Nascent Soul Stage, and it had taken him four hours of climbing the Heavenly Stairway to reach this point.

Every step felt like a struggle against death itself.

Yet this young man…

He carefully sensed the other party’s cultivation level.

The Qi Refining Stage?

“The… the Qi Refining Stage?!”

He cried out in shock.

The others also looked up one after another, staring at the figure in the green robe.

Qi Refining?

A mere Qi Refining kid was walking faster than them on the Heavenly Stairway?

“Impossible… absolutely impossible…”

Someone muttered, their face filled with disbelief.

Yet Chen Ping’s back was right before their eyes, moving upward step by step, growing further and further away.

*

Chen Ping ignored the shock behind him.

He simply pressed forward steadily, feeling the pressure.

The pressure was indeed powerful, suppressing everything from his soul to his physical body.

But for his Grand Dao Primordial Chaos Physique, it was still far from his limit.

He looked up toward the end of the Heavenly Stairway.

Up there, the palace was drawing closer and closer.

The gates remained tightly shut, but the three large characters carved upon them were already clearly visible: Inner Sect Treasury.

*

Chen Ping took a deep breath.

He quickened his pace slightly.

The pressure on the Heavenly Stairway grew stronger and stronger, but its effect on him remained limited.

Under this pressure, his Grand Dao Primordial Chaos Physique actually felt a faint sensation of being tempered.

Before he knew it, he had already climbed over a thousand steps.

Ahead, a man in white was hunched over, climbing upward with great difficulty.

Each step was an immense struggle; the veins on his forehead bulged, and sweat dripped down his cheeks.

As Chen Ping passed him, he cast a casual glance.

The man seemed to sense someone overtaking him. He looked up, and his gaze met Chen Ping’s.

In that instant, Chen Ping’s Grand Dao Divine Eyes caught it.

Although the man hid it extremely quickly, and it lasted only a fraction of a second, the malice, wariness, and a deeply hidden trace of intent to kill were all clearly seen by Chen Ping.

Chen Ping stopped.

He turned around, looking down at the man in white.

He studied him for a long moment.

He didn’t recognize him.

He had never seen him before.

*

“Why do you harbor such strong malice toward me?”

Chen Ping spoke, his voice calm and indifferent.

The man in white was Zhou Yunfan.

Zhou Yunfan’s expression changed slightly, but he quickly forced a smile.

“Senior must be joking. I do not know Senior, so how could I harbor any malice toward you?”

His attitude was respectful, and his tone was sincere.

But under Chen Ping’s Grand Dao Divine Eyes, his suddenly racing heartbeat and abruptly tensed muscles had nowhere to hide.

Chen Ping did not speak, merely staring at him quietly.

Zhou Yunfan felt his hair stand on end under the gaze.

He really couldn’t see through the strength of the person before him.

But someone who could stroll casually up more than a thousand steps of the Heavenly Stairway as if walking on flat ground was absolutely not someone he could afford to provoke.

“Senior… this junior really doesn’t know you…”

His voice trembled slightly.

*

Chen Ping suddenly smiled.

The smile was faint, yet it sent a shiver down Zhou Yunfan’s spine.

“Since you refuse to speak…”

Chen Ping raised his hand.

The Great Dao Primordial Power surged slightly, and a terrifying pressure instantly enveloped Zhou Yunfan.

The pressure pierced straight through to his soul, as if an invisible hand had gripped his heart and was squeezing it tighter and tighter.

Zhou Yunfan’s face turned deathly pale in an instant.

He felt as though he were about to suffocate.

“Se… Senior!”

He managed to speak, his voice hoarse.

“I am a True Disciple of the Tianyue Sacred Land! You cannot kill me…”

Chen Ping looked at him expressionlessly.

He raised his palm a fraction higher.

The pressure grew even stronger.

Zhou Yunfan’s legs began to give way, and he nearly collapsed to his knees.

He was truly terrified now.

The man in front of him would really kill him.

That killing intent was not concealed in the slightest.

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

He broke down.

Chen Ping’s hand paused slightly, and the pressure eased a bit.

Zhou Yunfan gasped for air, his face filled with terror.

“It’s… it’s because of Yue Qingshuang…”

He stammered.

“Senior, you’ve been close with Junior Sister Yue… I… I just…”

*

Hearing this, Chen Ping was stunned.

Then, he laughed.

His laugh was a bit helpless, a bit speechless.

That was it?

Just because of this?

This guy was just a simp?

Just because he was close to Yue Qingshuang, this guy wanted to kill him?

Chen Ping looked down at Zhou Yunfan, a complex look flashing in his eyes.

This guy was truly…

Talk about a disaster out of nowhere.

*

Chen Ping raised his hand.

Zhou Yunfan’s face was pale as he closed his eyes.

However,

The palm strike did not land on his head.

Instead, it struck his chest.

Bang!

Zhou Yunfan was sent flying backward, tumbling all the way down the Heavenly Stairway!

“Ahhh!”

His screams echoed along the stairway.

“You may be spared from death, but you cannot escape punishment^[1].”

Chen Ping withdrew his hand and spoke calmly.

*

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to pull up the weeds by their roots.

After all, Zhou Yunfan was a True Disciple of the Tianyue Sacred Land.

Killing him would bring immense trouble.

Chen Ping did not want to clash head-on with the Tianyue Sacred Land just yet.

He would wait until he was strong enough.

*

Zhou Yunfan rolled all the way down.

The cultivators who were already struggling to climb suddenly saw a figure falling from above, leaving them no time to dodge.

Thud, thud, thud!

One by one, they were knocked over by him and tumbled down together.

“What the hell!”

“What is that!”

“Help!”

Screams and curses mingled together.

A crowd of people rolled into a giant ball, tumbling down from hundreds of steps all the way to the bottom.

*

Below the Heavenly Stairway, the crowd erupted into an uproar.

“What’s going on? What happened up there?”

“Someone was thrown down!”

“That’s a True Disciple of the Tianyue Sacred Land! Who would dare?”

“I don’t know… I only saw a figure in green robes…”

Everyone looked up toward the top of the Heavenly Stairway.

There, a figure in green robes was still steadily making his way upward.