Divine War Pill Emperor

Chapter 338: Chapter 336: Perseverance

Facing eight times the pressure, Jiang Chen was already struggling to move.

Even taking a single step required a considerable amount of time.

Moreover, the pressure on each step was greater than the last. At this rate, one could only imagine how terrifying the pressure ahead would be.

THUD!

Reaching the 875th step, Jiang Chen felt his footing give way. Before he could steady himself, he fell to the ground.

RUMBLE...

Once he fell, pinned down by more than eight times the normal pressure, his body was no longer under his control. He actually started to roll down the stairs.

"Boss...!"

Flame Dragon, who had been keeping a close eye on Jiang Chen, couldn’t help but cry out in alarm.

This cry drew the attention of Wen Shixuan, Lord Wangu, and the others to Jiang Chen’s predicament, leaving them all shocked.

’Has the pressure up there gotten that terrifying?’

They all knew Jiang Chen was currently facing more than eight times the pressure.

However, they were more inclined to gloat over his misfortune.

Only Flame Dragon wanted to help, but he was powerless to do so.

Jiang Chen tumbled down more than twenty steps before he managed to stop himself.

In that moment, he broke out in a cold sweat.

He steadied himself and looked back. He had struggled so hard to climb dozens of steps, only to tumble right back down in an instant.

Worse, he couldn’t control himself while rolling; the pressure from above had forcibly pushed him downward.

Fortunately, he had managed to stop for now.

’I’ll keep going.’

He picked himself up, gritted his teeth, and began the determined climb upward once more.

This time, he was even more careful.

But this time, it took him a full five hours to reach the 900th step.

’Nine times the pressure.’

The moment Jiang Chen set foot on the 900th step, a tremor ran through his entire body.

An overwhelming force, like a collapsing mountain, crushed down on him. Jiang Chen felt as though Ten Thousand Ridges Mountain was pressing down on him.

He steadied his mind.

Sitting cross-legged on the 900th step, he took deep breaths and continuously circulated the Nine Heavens Spirit-Seizing Technique to recover his Cultivation.

Even so, the pressure here could send him tumbling down again at any moment.

He rested for about an hour.

Then, Jiang Chen began again.

’Giving up is not an option.’

His gaze was exceptionally firm. The greater the difficulty, the more it ignited Jiang Chen’s tenacity.

HUFF...

By the time he reached the 930th step, Jiang Chen felt utterly miserable. His legs ached, and even taking a single step felt like it drained all the strength from his body.

He collapsed onto the 930th step, gasping for air again.

His chest heaved violently.

He felt like he was suffocating.

’Seventy steps left.’

This was the first time Jiang Chen had faced such a trial. In his past life, he had never reached the latter levels of the Ghost Temple, so he had no idea such a perverse challenge existed here.

It was enough to make anyone who desired the Black Fire shrink back in despair.

After resting, Jiang Chen started again.

On the 930th step, he tried to lift his foot, but after a full ten minutes, he found he couldn’t lift it at all.

Even if he could, he wouldn’t be able to place it on the next step up.

The pressure was just too immense.

’It seems I can only crawl now. Truly crawling up the stairs.’

Before, he had been walking. Now, Jiang Chen realized there seemed to be no other way but to crawl.

In the end, Jiang Chen chose to crawl.

He crawled upward, step by step, like a snail carrying an immense weight on its back.

Seeing his wretched state, Flame Dragon, who was behind him, was utterly horrified.

Jiang Chen had always appeared incredibly powerful. The fact that he was now crawling told Flame Dragon that the pressure up there was beyond what any ordinary person could endure.

THUD! THUD!...

Behind them, the sound of someone tumbling down the stairs echoed.

It was Lord Wangu. Just moments before, he had been gloating over Jiang Chen’s misfortune. Now, he had lost his balance, fallen, and was rolling down the stairs.

Once he started rolling, it was nearly impossible to stop.

He tumbled all the way down to the bottom of the first step.

He scrambled to his feet, his face pale and bloodless, filled with both humiliation and rage.

He had only climbed 300 steps before falling all the way to the bottom. To get back, he would have to start all over again.

’Is this... is this as far as I go?’

Lord Wangu was on the verge of a breakdown.

Watching Jiang Chen crawl past the 900th step and still press on, he was practically dying of envy.

After a moment, he chose to start again.

Besides him, a number of other Martial Cultivators were also facing immense difficulty, with quite a few falling several steps.

As for Wen Shixuan, if not for Grand General Ming Zhe’s help, he would have fallen as well.

’Nine hundred and seventy-three...’

Jiang Chen lifted his eyes to look at the few remaining steps ahead. They felt as distant as the ends of the earth, so very, very far away.

Because now, conquering even a single step brought him an almost delirious sense of accomplishment.

Under the endless pressure, that sense of achievement was constantly amplified.

However, Jiang Chen’s greatest fear was that he wouldn’t be able to withstand the pressure and would fall. If that happened, he feared he would have to start all over again.

It took him an hour of rest for every single step he crawled.

Just climbing these thousand steps had already taken him several days.

And Jiang Chen still hadn’t reached the top.

The pressure magnified endlessly.

It was like the last straw that could break the camel’s back.

The pressure added with each new step wasn’t much, but it was enough to affect the final outcome.

’The 989th step... Can I still make it to the end?’

Jiang Chen was completely exhausted. He barely had the energy left to even circulate the Nine Heavens Spirit-Seizing Technique.

The pressure was too great.

His body was pressed so tightly against the step that he couldn’t get up at all.

Behind him, Flame Dragon had appeared on the 800-somethingth step. He was still barely able to stand and move forward.

After resting for a while, Jiang Chen slowly pushed himself up and began crawling toward the 990th step.

’I will definitely reach the end.’

He constantly reinforced his own belief and confidence.

He reminded himself that he could not give up.

PFFT!

Just as he crawled onto the 990th step, an even more terrifying pressure bore down on him. Jiang Chen felt a tightness in his chest, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

The endless pressure had squeezed the very blood from his body.

Jiang Chen’s expression darkened.

Lying prone on the step, he was on the verge of losing consciousness.

There were only ten steps left. The final ten, yet they were becoming increasingly difficult.

’No, I can still hold on.’

Jiang Chen roared inwardly.

He was using not only the Nine Heavens Spirit-Seizing Technique, but he had even put on the Black Gold Silk Armor.

The Black Gold Silk Armor could help him offset a portion of the force, but the overall pressure was simply too great, so the relief it provided was limited.

PFFT!

The 991st step. Jiang Chen spat out another mouthful of blood.

His face was as pale as paper.

The light in his eyes grew dimmer and dimmer.

But an indomitable belief drove him to persevere, to never give up.

Giving up could even cause his Dao Heart to shatter.

He could not leave himself any path of retreat; he had to press forward no matter what.

Five days passed. Jiang Chen, lying on the steps, couldn’t even turn his head. It felt impossibly heavy.

At this moment, Jiang Chen was lying on the 997th step.

He struggled to glance downward. Behind him, Flame Dragon had appeared on the 960th step. He too was crawling, looking just as wretched as Jiang Chen.

Seeing Jiang Chen look at him, Flame Dragon met his gaze.

His eyes seemed to say, ’Even if we die today, we will conquer these stairs.’