Chapter 422 - 403: Can This Kid Surpass the Little Junior Sister?

Chapter 422: Chapter 403: Can This Kid Surpass the Little Junior Sister?

Lu Ping stepped forward.

’How strange... this stone ladder... it seems to have its own destiny for me? All I’ve ever wanted in life is to find a scenic cave abode, lie down to watch the clouds roll by, and sleep until I wake up naturally.’

’Today, this long ladder seems to be urging me to get up and get a move on.’

’And as for what Miss Su said... though her words were filled with killing intent, my intuition tells me this journey... might be startling, but it won’t be dangerous.’

’Besides, if I’m going to spend my entire life bound by that so-called Guardian Dao Divine Spell, living like a puppet on a string, and if I can never have a day of peace... then this life isn’t worth living anyway...’

He reached out and leisurely dusted off his robes.

Facing the distant, lofty sky, he opened his mouth wide and let out a yawn.

Over three hundred pairs of eyes watched him, their pupils contracting in an instant as their gazes focused on him.

The undercover agents’ breathing hitched.

’What a blockhead! Daring to test the waters like this! This senior sister from the demon sect seems incredibly cunning. Her words are nine parts truth and one part lie, making them impossible to guard against. This kid wants to be the guinea pig? Perfect!’

’We can use his life to find out the truth of this Asking Dao Ladder! If his soul shatters the moment he steps on it and he turns to dust, then this celestial ladder is a living altar that devours flesh and blood. If he’s unharmed, or even gains some benefit, it won’t be too late for us to choose our moment to go up and share in the reward.’

’Better you die than me. That is the eternal, unchanging truth of the Cultivation Realm!’

Everyone’s gazes were fixed on Lu Ping.

Lu Ping trod over the gravel, passed through the sea of people built of fear and suspicion, and stopped in front of Su Ling’er.

He leaned forward, clasped his hands, and performed a standard Daoist salute to this inscrutable "guide."

"I am Lu Ping. I am willing... to test this ladder for everyone."

Su Ling’er stared at the man before her, who was yawning nonstop and exuded an air of lazy, "live-for-the-moment" indifference.

’Those few hundred Spirit Stones... they weren’t a complete waste after all. Compared to that bunch behind him, cowering like quails and just waiting for a scapegoat, this man at least has some of the integrity of a true Dao seeker. He dares to face the unknown. I suppose he’s worthy of my bag of Spirit Stones.’

’Go on, then. Let this magnificent heavenly might completely shatter your daydreams! Once you’ve tasted the feeling of a Heart Demon gnawing at your soul, you’ll understand just how soft a mortal bed can be. When the time comes, take whatever benefits you get and hurry back down the mountain. That will settle this karmic debt.’

Su Ling’er tapped her toes on the ground, and her figure glided three feet to the side.

"Go on."

She flipped her palm over, her fingertips pointing toward the white jade path to the heavens.

"How far you can go depends entirely on your own fortune."

Lu Ping straightened his back.

His gaze traveled over Su Ling’er’s shoulder and landed on the cold, white jade. Mist swirled at the edges of the steps, churning, strangling itself, and dissipating. The mountain wind swooped down from above, tearing at his hair and rushing into his robes.

His chest rose and fell. He lifted his right leg, the sole of his shoe leaving the dry ground. It hung in the air, pausing for a moment above the first step.

"THWACK!"

The cloth sole made contact with the white jade, and a ripple, visible to the naked eye, spread out from under his foot.

The surrounding scenery shattered in an instant, and the sound of the wind in his ears vanished.

Su Ling’er’s figure, the breathing of the three hundred new recruits, and the plants on the mountaintop all faded into nothingness at that moment.

Lu Ping felt an icy chill shoot from the tip of his toe straight to the top of his head. The clouds before him spun into a giant vortex.

The vortex devoured Lu Ping’s five senses. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a completely different world.

The initial illusions were merely bubbles of worldly desires.

First, mountains of gold and seas of silver piled up before him, the glittering metals dazzling to the eye. Lu Ping simply walked around them.

Next came fine wines and delicacies, nectars fit for immortals. He gave them a sniff but didn’t stop.

Then, peerless beauties threw themselves into his arms, soft and fragrant, but he found their perfume too strong and walked straight through the flock of chattering women.

For a terminal case of laziness, someone who couldn’t even be bothered to cook his own meals and just wanted to find a place to sleep, these temptations—fame, fortune, wine, and women—were not just unalluring, but burdensome things that would require effort to manage.

He didn’t walk fast, but every step was exceptionally steady.

As he ascended the steps, the illusions suddenly changed, beginning to target the mental barriers of a Cultivator.

Countless rare and precious Spirit Pills appeared before him, glowing with myriad rays of light and filling the air with their fragrant aroma. Just by taking one, he could achieve Foundation Establishment in a single step, saving himself many years of arduous cultivation.

Lu Ping thought for a moment. ’If I reach Foundation Establishment, will the sect send me on even more tiring missions?’ He shook his head and continued upward.

Immediately after, ancient Cultivation Technique manuals opened before him: the Heaven-Burning Skill, the Profound Sea Strategy. Each one radiated a world-destroying aura. Lu Ping just glanced at the densely packed cultivation methods and felt a headache coming on. ’Isn’t there anything simpler?’

’Cultivating this... just looking at it is exhausting. I’d have to draw fire or cold energy into my body every day, and my meridians would have to suffer for it. With all that effort, wouldn’t it be better to just sleep a little longer?’

He continued upward, step by step, ignoring opportunities that Cultivators in the outside world would fight to the death for. His Dao heart was one of taking things as they come. If he felt like cultivating, he’d cultivate a bit. If not, he’d rest. Forcing anything was just a stumbling block on the path of cultivation.

When he set foot on the thirty-first step, the intensity of the illusions leaped up again.

This time, he became the Sect Leader of the Celestial Furnace Sect, holding the power of life and death over billions. Nascent Soul elders lined up beneath his throne, and even Mr. Huohua could only bow and scrape before him. With a single thought, he could mobilize the entire sect’s resources to pave a grand path for himself toward Divinity Transformation.

’But being the Sect Leader? I’d have to deal with so many trivial matters every day, scheme and plot against other sects, and I’d even be dragged out of bed when I want to sleep in... This kind of life is worse than... just passing on the position of Sect Leader, finding a forbidden area in the back mountains, hanging up a ’Death Sealing Meditation’ sign, and then sleeping until the end of time.’

Yawning, he resolutely walked past the throne that symbolized supreme authority.

Finally, when he stepped onto the fiftieth step, the illusion transformed into Cyan Nether Peak. He held a Divine Sword in his hand and stood atop a Thunder Dragon, with the laws of the universe flowing at his fingertips.

Within his Dantian’s Qi Sea, a dazzling golden seal had already taken shape, radiating an immortal glow.

With just a little more time in cultivation, he could take another step forward, using the golden seal to break through the Nascent Soul barrier and immediately achieve Divinity Transformation, becoming an existence that could look down upon all those shackled at the Nascent Soul stage.

’But Divinity Transformation? It sounds nice, I guess. It’s just... this golden seal is a hassle. Possessing a treasure is a crime in itself. If I had this seal, wouldn’t every old Nascent Soul monster in the world come looking for me to ’discuss the Dao,’ just to try and rip this key to Divinity Transformation off me?’

’At that point, I’d either be fighting every day or on my way to a fight. What time would there be for sleep? Wouldn’t that be even less comfortable?’

He looked down at the brilliantly glowing golden seal inside his body.

’Too tiring. The wind is too strong at the peak of the Great Dao. It’s not a good place for sleeping.’

After a moment’s thought, he actually sat down cross-legged and sank his Divine Sense into his Qi Sea.

He extended a "hand," pinched the brilliant golden seal, and then... casually crushed it, turning it into countless particles of dust.

Then, he casually scooped up a handful of the scattered dust, kneaded it into... an ordinary-looking ceramic seal, and pressed it back into place with satisfaction.

After he had done all this, the illusion... shattered.

"CLACK!"

A crisp footstep echoed across the deathly silent mountaintop.

Lu Ping’s right foot landed steadily on the fiftieth white jade step.

In that instant, an arc of electricity flashed across the step, letting out a soft clap of thunder!

Below the ladder, countless jaws nearly hit the floor, their eyes filled with utter disbelief.

They stared at Lu Ping’s back. His steps had never once paused, trembled, or hesitated from the very beginning. The rhythm of each footfall was as steady and natural as the rising and setting of the sun.

’Th-This... he’s already at the fiftieth step! What about the Heart Demons? The illusions? Could it be that what this fairy said was a lie? Is this ladder just an ordinary staircase to the sky?!’

A few passing Guixi Sect players stopped in their tracks, pausing to watch the figure on the Asking Dao Ladder.

"He passed the fi... fiftieth step right off the bat?"

"This NPC is something else. The last one to rush past the fiftieth step in one go was our little junior sister, right?"

"Our little junior sister was a monster who went straight to the hundredth step. Can this kid surpass her? Still, I feel like this guy would be a good fit for Wang Xian to teach."

"Yeah, right. I’ll bet you fifty cents Wang Xian wouldn’t bother teaching him even if he knew."

The players whispered amongst themselves, pointing and commenting.

Meanwhile, the undercover agents cowering in the back watched Lu Ping’s lazy figure, their eyes twitching.

’The fiftieth step? He just... walked up it like that?’

’No spitting blood? No trembling? He didn’t even break a sweat?’

’This is the Asking Dao Ladder! It’s the ultimate trial that strikes directly at the Dao heart!’

’Could it be... that the Guixi Sect, just to keep up appearances, set up a fake with nothing but light effects?!’

’I knew it! How could a legendary divine object like this just be placed out in the open! So it’s just for show! A scare tactic! And to think I was so scared I backed away just now. I was almost tricked by these Demon Cultivators!’

Many of them straightened their backs, their faces showing cold smirks as if they had seen through the trick.

Su Ling’er stood to the side, her arms crossed over her chest.

’Could he be a true talent with a heart for the Dao? Such a talent must not be destroyed here. He absolutely cannot become a material for my senior brothers’ Artifact Refining, or dregs for their Alchemy.’

’Use this Asking Dao Ladder to see the cruelty of the cultivation path, to see the abyss within it, and then... take that Dao heart and go back down the mountain. Get as far away from this man-eating demon sect as possible.’

...

Atop the ladder.

Lu Ping rolled his neck, producing a sharp CRACK.

He looked down at the roiling sea of clouds below his feet, then looked up at the steps that still stretched endlessly above.

’How much higher does it go? My legs are sore, and my back aches.’

’If this so-called opportunity is just a bunch of mentally exhausting illusions, I’d have been better off squatting back in that corner. At least it blocked the wind.’

He sighed, then lifted his leg and set it down.

The fifty-first step. The clouds scattered.

The fifty-fifth step. The thunder died out. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

He shoved his hands into his sleeves, his back slightly hunched, his steps casual.

The sixtieth step.

The sixty-fifth step.

The sixty-ninth step.

No pause, no hesitation, no looking back.

Below, the sound of breathing vanished.

Countless pairs of eyes were nailed to that figure’s back.

The seventieth step.

The outstretched foot finally stopped.