Chapter 75: Feng Liuyi

Zhou Yunfan, who had rolled to the bottom of the steps, lay sprawled miserably on the ground, covered in dust.

The surrounding crowd quickly gathered around.

“True Disciple Zhou, what happened to you?”

“What just happened? How did you roll down from up there?”

Some showed concern, some were curious, and others had a hint of schadenfreude in their eyes.

Zhou Yunfan’s face flushed red. He struggled to his feet and brushed the dust off his clothes.

Taking a deep breath, he suppressed the anger and shame in his heart and forced a tight smile.

“It’s nothing.”

His voice was calm, trying his best to maintain his usual composure.

“A momentary lapse allowed an inner demon to take hold, and I took a fall.”

The people around him exchanged glances.

An inner demon invasion?

On the Heavenly Stairway?

Who would believe that?

But since Zhou Yunfan was a True Disciple^[1] of the Tianyue Sacred Land, no one present dared to call him out.

“So that’s how it is… Take care, True Disciple Zhou.”

“Indeed, the Heavenly Stairway is bizarre. It’s common for inner demons to arise.”

Everyone chimed in, making for a very harmonious scene.

*

Zhou Yunfan looked up toward the top of the Heavenly Stairway.

Up there, a figure in green was already getting further away, gradually growing faint.

His eyes were filled with venom as he gnashed his teeth.

“Kid… no matter who you are…”

He muttered under his breath, his voice chillingly dark.

“I will repay today’s humiliation a hundredfold!”

“I will tear you to pieces!”

*

Atop the Heavenly Stairway.

Chen Ping suddenly sneezed.

He rubbed his nose and glanced back thoughtfully.

Although he couldn’t see the bottom clearly, he didn’t need to think to know who was cursing him.

“It seems I hit him too lightly.”

He shook his head and withdrew his gaze.

However, he didn’t care much.

He was just a simp at the Nascent Soul Stage; he couldn’t stir up any trouble.

If he really wanted to die, Chen Ping would just find an opportunity to kill him later.

*

Chen Ping continued upward.

The Heavenly Stairway seemed endless, stretching upward step by step and vanishing into the clouds.

He had already climbed over three thousand steps.

Looking back, the figures below were already blurry.

Looking up, the figures ahead were growing fewer.

The occasional few he could see were all stopping and starting, struggling with every step.

But Chen Ping’s pace remained steady.

*

Five thousand steps.

Seven thousand steps.

Eight thousand steps.

The pressure grew heavier, but Chen Ping could still hold out.

The Great Dao Primordial Power circulated faster and faster within his body.

The pressure descending from the sky was actually tempering his physical body and spiritual energy.

He could feel his foundation becoming more solid and his strength growing purer.

“This Heavenly Stairway is a good place for cultivation.”

*

Eight thousand two hundred steps.

Ahead, two figures were struggling to climb.

They were two powerhouses of the Dao Severing Realm, a man and a woman. Judging by their attire, they were likely elders of some sacred land.

Every step they took seemed to exhaust all their strength, veins bulging on their foreheads and sweat pouring down like rain.

Chen Ping walked past them.

Sensing someone passing by, the two of them looked up.

Then, they froze.

The Qi Refining Stage?

Had they seen wrong?

A kid at the Qi Refining Stage was walking more easily at the eighty-two hundredth step than the two of them at the Dao Severing Realm?

“You…”

The male cultivator opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but could not find the words.

Chen Ping glanced at them and smiled slightly.

Without stopping, he continued onward.

Behind him, the two stared at his back as if looking at a monster, speechless for a long time.

*

Eight thousand five hundred steps.

Ahead, two young figures stood side by side.

A man and a woman, both at the early Divine Ability stage.

The man was remarkably handsome, with a gentle, jade-like temperament, his body enveloped in a faint golden light. He was the Holy Son^[2] of Wuya Hall, Xue Tianya.

The woman was cold and beautiful, with a hint of pride between her brows and green robes fluttering. She was the Holy Maiden of the Shengling Sect, Luo Qinghuan.

The two were currently resting to adjust their breathing, preparing for the next, more difficult stretch of the climb.

Chen Ping walked past them.

His steps were light, making almost no sound.

But Xue Tianya still noticed.

Turning his head, he saw a young man in green walking past them with steady steps and calm breathing.

Early Divine Ability stage?

No, wait…

He sensed carefully, and his pupils contracted slightly.

The Qi Refining Stage?

Luo Qinghuan also sensed something unusual. She opened her eyes and looked at the figure in green.

The Qi Refining Stage?

A Qi Refining Stage cultivator who could walk on the eighty-five hundredth step of the Heavenly Stairway as if on flat ground?

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other’s eyes.

For early Divine Ability stage cultivators to reach this point, they were already the top geniuses of the Northern Region.

But this person…

He was of a similar age, perhaps even younger, yet he could do this?

*

Chen Ping did not stop. He merely cast a brief glance at the two of them and continued forward.

Watching his retreating back, Xue Tianya remained silent for a moment before suddenly speaking.

“My friend…”

Chen Ping paused slightly and looked back at him.

Xue Tianya took a deep breath and cupped his hands.

“May I ask your name?”

Chen Ping looked at him and smiled.

“Chen Ping.”

With that, he turned and continued onward.

*

Xue Tianya and Luo Qinghuan stood in place, watching the figure grow more distant.

“Chen Ping…”

Luo Qinghuan murmured softly, her brow furrowing slightly.

She had never heard of this name before.

Yet to be able to reach the eighty-five hundredth step of the Heavenly Stairway at the Qi Refining Stage, and with more ease than them, such a person could never be a nobody.

“Could he be the disciple of some reclusive expert?”

Xue Tianya was lost in thought.

Luo Qinghuan fell silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

The smile was somewhat bitter, yet it carried a hint of stubbornness.

“First, Yue Qingshuang was pressing down on us, and now Chen Ping has popped out of nowhere…”

She looked up toward the end of the Heavenly Stairway.

“But this is what makes it interesting.”

Xue Tianya smiled as well.

“Indeed. The path of cultivation would be too lonely without a few rivals.”

The two exchanged a glance, fighting spirit igniting in their eyes.

After resting for a moment, they continued upward.

Though their pace was slow, they did not stop.

Chen Ping continued forward.

After the eighty-five hundredth step, the pressure on the Heavenly Stairway surged.

If the pressure before felt like a mountain pressing down, now it felt as if the entire world was against him.

The pressure flooded in from all directions, permeating every pore, piercing straight into his soul and deep into his bones.

Chen Ping’s pace finally slowed down.

But his steps remained steady.

*

Ahead, only two hazy figures remained.

One was shrouded in cool moonlight, like a fairy from the Moon Palace, distant and unreachable.

The other…

Chen Ping focused his gaze.

It was a woman in red, her entire body enveloped in pale gold flames.

Within the flames, the phantom of a divine phoenix was faintly visible, spreading its wings and crying out.

Feng Liuyi.

The number one prodigy of the Northern Region’s Feng Family.

The Feng Family was the premier family, second only to the three major hegemonies of the Northern Region.

While the three major hegemonies were sects that gathered the world’s geniuses, the Feng Family was a clan with a ten-thousand-year heritage.

In terms of foundation, the Feng Family was not inferior to any Sacred Land.

It could be said that the Feng Family was the number one family in the Northern Region.

And Feng Liuyi was the most dazzling genius of the Feng Family’s current generation.

*

At this moment, Feng Liuyi had already reached the 8,990th step.

Only ten steps remained until the 9,000th.

But those ten steps made every movement an agonizing struggle.

Her face was drenched in sweat, and the veins on her neck bulged slightly.

The divine phoenix phantom around her burned furiously, shielding her from the monstrous pressure.

Every step was like walking on the edge of a blade.

Every step required all her strength.