“Second, anyone who cannot reach the twentieth step will be eliminated directly.”
“Third, for the remaining people, we will take the top one thousand to advance.”
“Also, let me give you all a piece of advice: don’t rush too fast, or else… alright, the competition begins now. You have half a month.”
After Xiao Qingfeng finished speaking, he returned to his high seat.
The people in the square looked at each other in confusion. Climbing a small staircase in half a month – weren’t they looking down on them a bit too much?
Bam! —
A loud crash drew everyone’s attention.
It turned out someone had tried to fly up on their sword but ended up falling flat on their face.
“Does this mean we can’t use magical artifacts?” someone exclaimed.
Just then, another person threw a magical artifact towards the ladder.
Thud! —
The artifact bounced back the moment it was about to touch the ladder.
Everyone took out their own flying artifacts to try, but none of them succeeded.
Someone who couldn’t bear to watch anymore stepped forward and said, “Everyone, stop trying. It’s just nine hundred and ninety-nine steps, isn’t it? We have fifteen whole days. We can reach the top even if we climb slowly!”
Only then did everyone snap out of it, and they all ran towards the ladder, afraid that if they were too slow, they wouldn’t get a spot.
Feng Qingran’s beautiful eyes sparkled. The Ladder to Heaven?
How interesting!
In her previous life, she had also seen the Ladder to Heaven once. How many steps a cultivator could climb was not up to them at all.
You could say that the first twenty steps depended entirely on strength. Without a cultivation base above the Golden Core stage, it was simply impossible to set foot on the twenty-first step.
As for how many steps you could climb after that, it didn’t just depend on perseverance, but also on talent and luck.
Back then, Su Yanran, as the favored daughter of destiny, had only managed to climb to the seven hundredth step, and she couldn’t go even one step further.
The Ladder to Heaven truly felt like ascending to the heavens.
When you first started climbing, it felt like no big deal, extremely simple.
But as you got further, every single step you climbed felt like crossing an unbridgeable chasm.
Was this the reason why Third Senior Sister gave up on participating in the alchemist competition?
“Little Junior Sister, why are you just staring at the ladder?” Dugu Jianyi looked at Feng Qingran. Even though he was the Second Senior Brother among their group, over the years, everyone in Lingyun Sect had also accepted an unspoken rule.
If Mo Jinghong was around, listen to Mo Jinghong.
If Mo Jinghong wasn’t around, listen to Liu Canglan.
If Liu Canglan wasn’t around, then listen to Little Junior Sister.
If none of these three were around, listen to whoever was the strongest.
“Ascending the Ladder to Heaven isn’t difficult. With Second Senior Brother’s strength, you can definitely climb over seven hundred steps. However, Second Senior Brother needs to be careful of underhanded attacks from others along the way, after all, Sect Leader Xiao didn’t say that fighting is prohibited while climbing the ladder.” Feng Qingran’s voice was as clear and melodious as a lark’s song.
After all, Second Senior Brother was the antagonist who, in the later stages, could beat the female lead until she was scrambling on the ground looking for her teeth. He was definitely not inferior to her.
It’s just that Second Senior Brother had a bit of bad luck and ultimately fell victim to a scheme by one of the female lead’s admirers, leading to a tragic end.
But that won’t happen in this life. She had already made sure Dugu Jianyi thoroughly studied all kinds of medicine and poisons, and she had also prepared every kind of antidote pill for him.
Second Senior Brother would definitely fulfill his wish and become a generation’s Sword Immortal.
After hearing what Feng Qingran said, Dugu Jianyi fell into thought and didn’t reply.
Baili Wenyue’s fox-like eyes flashed with a seductive charm, and he smiled, “Little Junior Sister, if fighting is allowed, couldn’t we team up and kick down everyone we don’t like?”
The corner of Feng Qingran’s mouth twitched, “In principle, yes, you could.”
But Feng Qingran knew Baili Wenyue wouldn’t do that.
After all, those who climb high don’t have time to bother with people at the lower levels.
The time it would take Baili Wenyue to take out others would be enough for him to climb several more steps.
“Third Senior Sister, no wonder you wanted to come to the Ladder to Heaven. This is way more interesting than alchemy. It’s a pity Fifth Senior Sister couldn’t come…” Baili Wenyue said with some regret.
Qin Hanyan nodded, didn’t say anything, and as usual, remained as cold as frost.
“What are you all waiting for? Why aren’t you leaving?” Baili Wenyue stepped forward, only to see that the three behind him hadn’t moved.
Feng Qingran flicked her sleeve, and a table with four stools appeared before them.
Feng Qingran sat down calmly and unhurriedly, “Sixth Senior Brother, don’t worry. We still have fifteen days anyway. Why not relax for a few days before going?”
Baili Wenyue: ???
Are you still my Little Junior Sister, the one who always strives so hard in the sect?
Before Baili Wenyue could react, Dugu Jianyi and Qin Hanyan chose their spots and sat down.
Baili Wenyue was shocked speechless, but in the end, he found a seat and sat down too.
Seeing Baili Wenyue sit down, Feng Qingran took something out. “There’s a saying: the bigger the competition you’re in, the more you need to relax. How about we play some mahjong?”
Feng Qingran blinked her almond-shaped eyes, looking at Dugu Jianyi and Qin Hanyan with an intense gaze.
These two were even more diligent than her within the sect, always either in closed-door cultivation or out gaining experience. Today, she finally had a chance to pin them down.
“What is mahjong?” Dugu Jianyi and the other two all looked surprised.
Feng Qingran directly tossed out a jade slip. “Mahjong was invented by a man named Dingfeng Zhenren a long, long time ago.”
“Mahjong was all the rage throughout the cultivation world for a while, but later it was banned by the Baili family.”
“Now that our Qingyun Province is independent, I had someone make mahjong. The rules are on this jade slip. Take a look first.”
Feng Qingran’s almond-shaped eyes sparkled brighter than spring flowers as she poured a pile of small tiles onto the table.
This move by Feng Qingran and her group left all the people scrambling to get on the ladder completely speechless.
Up on the high seat, Xiao Hongyu’s expression turned particularly grim. “Nonsense, this is absolute nonsense! Where is Ye Wentian? Go find Ye Wentian for me right now!”
—
