At the same time, ethereal, indistinct voices whispered around Feng Qingran’s ears. “Give up. You can’t go any further. If you keep going, you’ll die…”
“Give up. Just give up. Why are you making yourself so tired?”
“Don’t climb any higher. Haven’t you noticed that there’s no one behind you? Are you really willing to bear this loneliness?”
“Hurry up and give up. Stop being an outcast. Do you know that if you keep this up, everyone will abandon you?”
“Give up. Why put yourself through all this exhaustion again? Let it go. As long as you stop, everything will get better, and you won’t have to suffer anymore.”
“Aren’t you afraid of pain? Aren’t you afraid of death? By going on like this, you’re infringing on other people’s interests. How can you be so selfish!”
Feng Qingran’s steps faltered slightly. Her vision was blurred; she could not see the road ahead, nor could she see what lay behind her…
“How many steps have I taken? How much farther is it?” she asked the voice.
“You’ve only walked eight hundred steps. There are still one hundred and ninety-nine levels to go. If you keep going, you’ll die. Don’t go on. Rest for a while.” The ethereal voice was full of temptation.
“One hundred and ninety-nine levels? That many?” Feng Qingran’s hands clenched into fists. She felt she was reaching her limit.
There was still so far to go!
Was she really going to give up just like that?
Feng Qingran shook her head, and her awareness gradually returned. Countless memories flashed through her sea of consciousness.
She thought back to the sect assembly and the days after she had joined the Lingyun Sect.
Everything that had happened felt like a dream.
If she gave up now, then everything she had done before would truly be in vain!
——————
At the bottom of the Heavenly Staircase.
“Little Junior Sister has been stuck here for a whole day. Is she running out of steam?” Though Baili Wenyue said this, the anxiety in his eyes was unmistakable.
“Little Junior Sister is probably nearing her limit. The closer you get to the end, the harder every step becomes.” Qin Hanyan’s attitude was still as cold as ice.
Just then, the grey-robed youth in the crowd shouted, “Climb! Don’t give up! Don’t give up!”
“Yeah! Don’t give up! You can definitely make it to the top!”
“You have to reach the top! I barely got through the preliminary test, and I’m waiting for your blessing at the summit!”
“Keep going! There’s still a whole day left, and only three more steps! You can do it!”
……
The encouraging shouts rose and fell one after another.
Those who had stopped on the Heavenly Staircase began to pray for Feng Qingran.
No one saw the countless invisible strands of golden silk gathering together, drifting slowly toward her and sinking into her body.
The moment the golden threads entered her, Feng Qingran lifted her foot and stepped onto the nine hundred and ninety-eighth level.
Thump! —
Feng Qingran’s knees went weak and limp, and she collapsed onto the step.
Cough! Cough! —
She coughed up blood in great heaves.
A terrifying force swirled around her, ready at any moment to devour her consciousness.
“Heh!” Feng Qingran suddenly let out a cold laugh.
With her jade-like hand, she reached into the void and grabbed—and in her palm appeared a mass of black clouds. “Isn’t this small world under your control? Then why is there another world’s will here?”
The black cloud struggled. “Y-You… how can you catch me?” Its voice was filled with panic and fear.
“The Heavenly Staircase is a path for asking Heaven and seeking direction. Since I’ve already set foot on the Road to Heaven, naturally I can touch Heaven itself.” Feng Qingran’s explanation was cold, and an aura of noble elegance radiated from her.
“Impossible! For millions of years, no one has ever been able to catch me on the path to Heaven. Feng Qingran, who are you really?” the Heaven-Opening Eye exclaimed in shock.
Within the black clouds of the Heaven-Opening Eye, dark runes flickered.
“So, you created the Road to Heaven? What was your purpose in creating it?” Feng Qingran’s suspicion had now been confirmed.
“The Road to Heaven was created, of course, to test cultivators!” the Heaven-Opening Eye roared.
“You’re lying.” Feng Qingran’s lips curled slightly. “You created the Road to Heaven to better steal the fortune and destiny that others carry.”
“How do you know that?” The Heaven-Opening Eye was utterly shocked.
How could an ant like her see through destiny and fortune?
“I actually didn’t know. You’re the one who told me,” Feng Qingran said crisply.
“When did I tell you that?” the Heaven-Opening Eye demanded.
Feng Qingran closed her eyes and swept her divine sense over the Heaven-Opening Eye. “I asked you whether there was another world’s will here. You didn’t dare answer me directly—and that gave me my answer.”
“A small world can only have one world will. If this world is under your control, then there should be no other world wills.”
“So where did all these extra world wills come from? They could only have been brought in from other worlds.”
“Then I remembered that my Seventh Senior Brother once told me that the Heaven-Opening Eye could steal the fortune and destiny from other worlds. And if you can steal destiny itself, why would you let go of something like a world’s will?”
Feng Qingran’s voice gradually turned icy cold.
The most important thing sustaining a small world is the world will itself. It is, in a sense, the pillar that holds up the entire small world.
Once that world will collapses, it means that the world is about to be destroyed.
The world wills that the Heaven-Opening Eye had stolen still carried traces of information from their original worlds. That world had already been battered and broken, wracked by endless war. Now that its world will had been lost, it had likely already ceased to exist.
Feng Qingran thought of the Primal Chaos Tree seed that had appeared some time ago.
When Mo Jinghong had handed the Primal Chaos Tree seed to her back then, its roots had tightly bound a little ingot, and its young sprouts had drooped limply.
Now the seed had taken root in her space and sprouted two tender green leaves, growing well.
But the better the Primal Chaos Tree grew, the worse the state of the outside world was.
A small world that has lost its world will will not disappear immediately. Instead, it will slowly decay—and then, eventually, vanish entirely.
