Chapter 813: Burn Lifespan

"Use your strength!"

"Hold on, I'm counting on you!"

"I believe in you—this isn't your true limit; you can definitely climb to fifteenth place!"

In truth, Zhu Xuanlun reaching seventeenth place had already surprised Zhu Zhengyan greatly.

But after seeing seventeenth, Zhu Zhengyan was no longer satisfied—he thought fifteenth sounded much better!

"Ah…"

Zhu Xuanlun let out a roar, summoning every ounce of strength he had; his brown-black flames blazed fiercely as he surged upward.

Sixteenth place!

Fifteenth place!

Zhu Xuanlun finally reached fifteenth!

"Phew…" He exhaled, utterly drained at this moment.

"Father!" He gasped for breath: "I can't go on… I'm going to… leave my name!"

Zhu Xuanlun reached out, ready to carve his name into the stone tablet at the corresponding height.

"No!" Above, Zhu Zhengyan roared: "Push higher! I believe in you—you can climb one more level!"

Zhu Xuanlun's face was pale, his body engulfed in roaring brown-black solar essence fire: "Father… I truly cannot go any higher!"

"I don't care!" Zhu Zhengyan said: "No matter what, you must climb higher!"

"You're only five ranks away from the top ten!"

"Surpass these five, and you'll be in the top ten!"

"Climb!"

"Climb!"

Zhu Xuanlun swallowed five pills in one breath, and the flames on his body burned even more fiercely.

He launched several violent surges upward, but all were futile.

He simply couldn't rise any further.

"Zhengyan!" Jin Gang, the Demon Emperor, watched with pity and said: "Don't push him further—his performance is already excellent; overexertion will damage his cultivation foundation!"

"That's right!"

"This child Zhu Xuanlun truly has extraordinary talent!"

"He's already tried his hardest!"

"No!" Zhu Zhengyan stared at Zhu Xuanlun: "Don't listen to their nonsense—they're just jealous you're climbing too high!"

"Zhu Xuanlun, listen to me!"

"Right now, immediately…"

"Burn your lifespan!"

"Burn your lifespan—climb higher!"

"You're under a thousand years old; burning a little lifespan is perfectly fine!"

"You still have nine thousand years of lifespan to burn!"

"What are you afraid of?"

"After this contest, you'll immediately attempt Body Integration—once you reach that realm, you'll have twenty thousand years of lifespan!"

"Quickly—burn it!"

Those around him saw Zhu Zhengyan had gone qi-deviated, and no one dared speak further.

Below, Zhu Xuanlun had no escape—he roared and began using a secret technique to burn his lifespan.

Lifespan, when deliberately burned, grants immense power, but it is consumed rapidly.

A hundred years of lifespan vanished in an instant.

"Boom…"

With the power from burning his lifespan, Zhu Xuanlun surged another hundred zhang upward, finally reaching the fourteenth level.

"Father… I really can't go on!"

This time, Zhu Xuanlun waved his hand and carved his name directly onto the stone tablet.

"Damn it…" Zhu Zhengyan still cursed: "Didn't I tell you to burn nine thousand years at once? Why did you only burn eight?"

"Burn more!"

"You can still go one step further!"

But it was too late.

Zhu Xuanlun had already carved his name onto the stone tablet.

Then his body, frail as a reed, floated gently down from tens of thousands of zhang above.

"Puh…" As soon as he landed, Zhu Xuanlun spat out a mouthful of blood.

His once jet-black hair had turned snow-white.

His previously youthful face was now lined with deep wrinkles.

"Damn thing!"

Then Zhu Zhengyan descended from above, showing no joy at his son reaching fourteenth place—only anger at being disobeyed: "Did you ignore everything I told you?"

"Why did you leave a thousand years?"

"You dared to disobey me?"

"You—you—you beast…"

Zhu Zhengyan raised his hand to strike his son.

"Zhengyan!" Above, the Great Lun Ming Wang suddenly spoke: "I have a question for you."

Zhu Zhengyan released his son and looked upward: "My Lord, please ask."

The Great Lun Ming Wang asked: "I recall you once climbed this Stone Platform Stairway—what rank did you achieve?"

Zhu Zhengyan's face lit up: "I left my name at two hundred thirty-second place—second among all prodigies in that year's Stone Platform Stairway!"

Two hundred some places sounds like a lot.

But in truth, it's the cumulative ranking of countless sages across generations.

It's already impressive.

The Great Lun Ming Wang asked again: "And if you had burned your lifespan back then, how much higher could you have gone?"

"How many years of lifespan did you burn?"

At this question, Zhu Zhengyan fell silent, his face dark as soot.

"Hmph…" He glared fiercely at his son, then turned and left without another word.

"Congratulations, Zhu Xuanlun!" Jin Gang, the Demon Emperor, smiled warmly: "You did excellently—fourteenth place is enough to shine through eternity!"

"Yes!"

"Congratulations!"

Everyone congratulated Zhu Xuanlun.

He Pingsheng pulled out a Sacred Essence Pill and offered it to Zhu Xuanlun: "Top-grade—it restores a thousand years of lifespan. Take it."

Human cultivators of Void Refinement have only five thousand years of lifespan, but Zhu Xuanlun is a Golden Crow—he possesses ten thousand years at Void Refinement.

He now has only one thousand left; if he consumes this Sacred Essence Pill, he gains another thousand.

"Thank you," Zhu Xuanlun accepted the pill but did not eat it, instead gazing at He Pingsheng with deep gratitude.

He Pingsheng shook his head and returned to his seat.

What can you do with a father like that?

The boy's fate is simply tragic.

"Second place, Bai Zhiting!" Jin Gang's voice rang out again: "Please prepare Bai Zhiting and her Breaker for the Stairway Ascent!"

"Yes!" Bai Zhiting stepped forward and bowed to Jin Gang: "Your Majesty, my Breaker is the Grand Elder of my Tianhu Clan, a Mahayana Emperor."

Then, a large and a small fox began ascending.

At that moment, Duan Feihong flashed forward, suddenly appearing before He Pingsheng and Wang Dun.

Both were startled.

Duan Feihong stared intently at He Pingsheng for two long moments: "You… what a pity."

"I came here intending to be your Breaker!"

"But you've lost your eligibility to challenge the Stairway."

He Pingsheng replied coolly: "You flatter yourself—even if I hadn't lost eligibility, I wouldn't have chosen you as my Breaker."