Chapter 812

"Everyone!"

"Climbing the Heavenly Ladder is actually very simple!"

"Just fly straight up this ladder!"

"But the higher you go, the stronger the pressure becomes!"

"Not only is there pressure, but also heavenly gales descend upon the ladder—so that prodigies may climb higher, each prodigy may choose a wall-breaker to bear part or all of the gales!"

"The basic rule is: there are no rules!"

"Anyone ranked in the top thirty on the stone tablet is eligible to climb the ladder!"

"If anyone has any questions, ask me!"

The Golden Immortal Emperor looked down at the prodigies and spoke calmly.

On the contrary, the rules of the fifth level were the simplest and easiest to understand, so no one objected.

"Good!" said the Golden Immortal Emperor. "If there are no objections, then let the ascent of the Stone Platform Ladder begin!"

"Proceed in order of your previous rankings!"

Hummm… hummm… hummm…

With a wave of his hand, the Golden Immortal Emperor summoned a luminous membrane into the void.

On the membrane were a string of names.

First: Zhu Xuanlun!

Second: Bai Zhiting!

Third: Wang Dun!

Fourth: Feng Wanxi!

Fifth: Mingyue!

Sixth: Nan Qiqi!

Seventh: Kong Que Sacred Maiden…

Originally, He Pingsheng was seventh, but since his qualification to climb the Stone Platform Ladder was revoked, the next-ranked Kong Que Sacred Maiden moved up to seventh.

He Pingsheng also scanned each name one by one.

He noticed the list contained only twenty-nine names—not thirty.

That meant, although his qualification had been revoked, the individual ranked thirty-first had not been promoted.

"My fellow Immortal Emperors, do you approve?" asked the Golden Immortal Emperor, glancing at the other Immortal Emperors around him.

Around him stood more than thirty Mahayana Immortal Emperors.

All of them nodded.

"Good!" said the Golden Immortal Emperor, seeing everyone's agreement. "First up: Zhu Xuanlun…"

"Let Zhu Xuanlun ascend the Ladder!"

Zhu Xuanlun, clad in a black Daoist robe, stepped beneath the Ladder.

He bowed to the Immortal Emperors and said: "I, Zhu Xuanlun of the Golden Crow Clan, request Golden Crow Immortal Emperor Zhu Zhengyan to serve as my wall-breaker!"

"I humbly ask all Immortal Emperors for your approval!"

Zhu Xuanlun's expression was solemn.

The Golden Immortal Emperor nodded: "No problem… begin!"

"Hahaha…" Zhu Zhengyan burst out laughing as he soared forth, landing precisely ten zhang above Zhu Xuanlun. He looked down with a grin: "Go hard, boy! If you reach the top fifty, I'll reward you—maybe even let you rest for a year or half a year!"

"Yes!" Zhu Xuanlun bowed. "Father, I will do my best!"

"Begin!" Zhu Zhengyan waved his hand, unleashing a vast Immortal Emperor aura that blocked the primordial gales descending from immeasurable heights.

Within a thousand zhang of Zhu Zhengyan, not a single gale could fall.

"Go!"

He shouted, and his body shot upward in a flash.

Below, Zhu Xuanlun also rose into the air.

Two black streaks, one high, one low, surged upward along the narrow stone platform ladder.

Amid the gales, their figures grew taller, then smaller.

From afar, the Golden Crow Immortal Emperor's head was crowned by a fluid-shaped energy shield, like a sharp little umbrella shielding his son below.

He Pingsheng, Nan Qiqi, and Wang Dun stood

After watching for a while, Nan Qiqi said: "The Mahayana Emperor Realm is truly powerful—they can not only walk against the Gangfeng for a million zhang, but also block every single gust entirely!"

"Not a single trace left unblocked!"

"A Body Integration cultivator can ascend two or thirty thousand zhang against the Gangfeng, but they cannot fully block it."

"In other words, if a Body Integration cultivator were to act as a Wall-Breaker, their effectiveness would be terrible!"

He Pingsheng nodded: "A Wall-Breaker must block every single gust—if they can only block half, they're nearly useless."

Wang Dun asked: "What's the limit for Void Refinement?"

Nan Qiqi said: "Without a Wall-Breaker, a Void Refinement cultivator can reach a maximum height of about sixty thousand zhang—and even that's a record held by a peerless prodigy!"

"Most Void Refinement cultivators can't even reach sixty thousand zhang!"

Wang Dun said: "I understand now—Wall-Breakers still have some use!"

"With Wall-Breakers, you can reach eighty thousand zhang!"

Eighty thousand zhang isn't exactly eighty thousand zhang.

It's about eighty thousand zhang.

Legend says that the Phoenix Clan prodigy Bei Chen once reached eighty thousand zhang.

Even after countless tens of thousands of years, his name still sits at the top of the Heavenly Ladder!"

During the time of the ancient Bei Chen, the Spirit Realm had no one who could match him.

Such is the power of a true genius.

"Tell me," Wang Dun said, "how high can this little Zhu climb?"

"For some reason, I feel this child is exceptional—I can't help but hope he climbs higher!"

Wang Dun tilted his head upward, watching the father and son grow smaller and smaller.

But it doesn't matter!

Even if their forms vanished from sight, opening his spiritual sense allowed him to see their ascent with perfect clarity.

"I don't know," He Pingsheng shook his head. "But his talent is strong—he might make it into the top hundred on the Heavenly Ladder!"

"He seems to have an eighth-rank Destiny."

Nan Qiqi said: "Let's hope so!"

Zhu Zhengyan flew upward with his son, ascending steadily.

Soon they reached ten thousand zhang.

Then twenty thousand, thirty thousand, forty thousand, fifty thousand, sixty thousand…

Quickly, they reached seventy thousand zhang.

Even after reaching seventy thousand zhang, he showed no sign of slowing—he kept climbing higher.

"Whoa…" The Emperor-level cultivators all gasped in shock.

Someone said: "He's passed… the top hundred… I see it—he surpassed Hong Anqi, the human ranked one hundred!"

"He passed ninety-nine!"

"This kid's incredible—he's already in the top hundred?"

Making the top hundred isn't easy!

This list is the combined ranking of countless sages from ancient to modern times.

To be blunt, the winner of the Stone Platform Gathering often can't even break into the top hundred!

"Damn… seventy-fourth!"

"This kid is strong!"

"No wonder the Black Tortoise Emperor said this is the strongest generation of prodigies ever!"

"Sixty-sixth…"

"Heaven—he surpassed the forty-third-ranked!"

"Zhu Xuanlun is too strong—how is this kid so powerful!"

"Twenty-second!"

"Seventeenth…"

At this point, nearly everyone had focused their attention upward.

Zhu Xuanlun was barely holding on.

The higher he climbed, the stronger the pressure became.

Yet he kept climbing.

"Seventeenth! You're seventeenth now… Zhu Xuanlun, keep climbing—don't stop!" The Golden Crow Emperor shouted from the void.