"Brother Wang, Brother Situ, this is where you are wrong."
How could we miss out on something this fun?
Just as Bai Bufan and Situ Jin were locked in a fierce confrontation.
Suddenly, several more figures leaped up from the crowd and landed beside the two.
Those were also several young people with powerful auras, each with a unique temperament and outstanding appearance.
It's obvious at a glance that he's a disciple from a major sect or sect.
Sure enough, when they saw those people, the crowd erupted in gasps once again.
"It's the other members of the Ten Heroes!"
"What's going on? Did they plan to climb the Heavenly Ladder together today?"
"This is going to be a good show!"
"The Ten Heroes of Zhongzhou have never been ranked in any particular order. Could it be that this time, they will decide their own rankings?"
"This trip was definitely worthwhile! I never expected to see such a spectacular scene!"
...
The crowd below was abuzz with discussion, their emotions running high.
Bai Bufan and Situ Jin, standing on the white jade steps, were also stunned.
"You all actually came?"
"Of course! With the world changing so much, the Holy Mountain, as the center of the world, must be bustling with activity. How could we possibly not come?"
"Brother Bai, Brother Situ, it's a bit too boring for the two of you to compete alone. Why don't we join in the fun?"
"It's rare to have all ten of us gathered here today, so why don't we have a competition together?"
"That's right, those two are already ahead of us. If we don't work harder, we'll probably fall further and further behind."
...
"It's them? I didn't expect all ten of them to come. This is the first time so many people have gathered since the title came out."
Lin Zhirui was slightly taken aback when he saw several figures suddenly jump up.
"They're all here?" Wei Zian asked in confusion. "But there are only seven people upstairs. Aren't there three people who haven't arrived yet?"
"The Ten Heroes of Zhongzhou originally consisted of ten people, but half a year ago, one of them died in an accident and was unable to attend."
Two other people recently broke through to the Innate Realm and have automatically been removed from this list.
Therefore, of the current top ten, only the seven mentioned above remain.
Lin Zhirui explained.
"Breakthrough to the Innate Realm?" Lu Qing suddenly looked at him with a strange expression. "Lord Zhi Rui, could it be that among these ten outstanding talents..."
The others then realized what was happening and turned to look at them.
Lin Zhirui paused for a moment, then smiled wryly and said, "As expected, I couldn't hide it from my young friend Lu Qing. Indeed, I was once honored to be falsely praised as one of the Ten Outstanding Individuals."
"Hehe, I knew it. With your charisma, how could you possibly not be included?"
Seeing the embarrassed look on Lin Zhirui's face, Lu Qing couldn't help but laugh.
In the past, Lin Zhirui always appeared calm and composed, as if he had everything under control.
It was a rare sight for him to see such an expression on the face of this highly accomplished disciple of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion.
"Indeed, Your Excellency Zhi Rui, your demeanor far surpasses that of the others!" Wei Zian exclaimed sincerely.
"Alright, everyone, stop making fun of me." Lin Zhirui's face flushed slightly, and he quickly pointed ahead, "Young Master Bai and the others are about to begin climbing the Heavenly Ladder."
Lu Qing and the others turned to look, and sure enough, after a conversation, Bai Bufan and the others had begun to climb up the Heavenly Ladder.
The white jade steps on the Heavenly Ladder are three feet high, each step of which is three feet high.
The seven figures initially climbed quite easily.
With a light leap, one can cross more than ten steps and climb more than ten meters upwards, ascending rapidly.
But after climbing more than ten zhang, the speed slowed down significantly.
Furthermore, the height of their leaps also decreased significantly, from three or four zhang at the beginning to only one or two zhang later on.
Gradually, he could only climb one step at a time.
"Your Excellency Zhi Rui, who do you think will win?" Lu Qing asked.
"It's hard to say." Lin Zhirui shook his head. "These individuals are among the best of the true disciples of various sects."
Not only has his own foundation been honed to a very solid level, but his spiritual power has also been tempered.
And they all possess secret skills; until the very last moment, no one knows who will emerge victorious.
While Bai Bufan and his group were competing, on a high point in the Holy City, there were also many figures exuding powerful auras watching and chatting about this scene.
"Brother Qiu, who do you think will win this competition?"
One of the figures, dressed in a blue robe, laughed.
"In my opinion, Bu Fan is a good kid. Judging from how he still seems to be handling things with ease, it shouldn't be difficult for him to win first place," another figure said.
"Otherwise, I'm more optimistic about Situ Jin. It's said that he has already cultivated the Vajra Body to the peak of the Iron Body."
It is only a hair's breadth away from the Bronze Body Realm of the Innate Realm.
As you all know, climbing the Heavenly Ladder is most demanding in terms of physical strength. I think he's very likely the one who will make it to the end.
Another figure appeared.
"Those with strong physical bodies do have an advantage when climbing the Heavenly Ladder, but don't forget that the Heavenly Ladder's suppression of the mind should not be underestimated."
Bai Bufan and the others were all at the peak of the Acquired Realm, so even if there were some differences in their physical strength, they wouldn't be too great.
So I think that in the end, they still have to rely on their mental fortitude and willpower.
"What's the point of arguing here? Just watch, the pressure of the ladder will only really begin after the hundred meters."
Who wins and who loses will become clear once they've passed the 100-meter mark and observe their performance.
"That's right, the real competition begins after the 100-meter mark."
Upon hearing this, the other figures nodded in agreement.
They had also climbed the Heavenly Ladder before, so they naturally knew some of its features.
The white jade staircase is relatively easy to climb, especially the first few steps.
However, once the height exceeds 100 meters, the pressure on the steps increases exponentially, making it a completely different level of difficulty.
Just like the powerful figures high up in the city, many people in the crowd at the foot of the mountain also knew this secret.
So when they saw Bai Bufan and the others leap out again and descend to the next step.
Someone immediately shouted, "Level 100!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Bai Bufan and the others suddenly sway and almost lost his balance.
It's clear that they're not used to the sudden increase in pressure on the stairs.
"Your Excellency Zhi Rui, is there any special feature to these hundred steps?"
Seeing this, Lu Qing turned and asked.
"The pressure on this ladder to heaven does not increase gradually and steadily. Instead, the suppressive force doubles every hundred steps, and the suppressive force increases significantly with each subsequent step."
For example, at the first level, the suppressive power is one, and at each subsequent level, it only increases by one-tenth, until the ninety-ninth level.
Its suppressive power is only about ten.
However, once you reach level 100, the pressure will increase exponentially, dropping directly to level 20.
Each subsequent level, although it only increases by one-tenth, is based on these twenty.
Therefore, Young Master Bai and his companions are now under much greater pressure than before.
"I see."
Lu Qing and the others suddenly realized.
"Actually, there is another story about the Heavenly Ladder."
Lin Zhirui got into the conversation and continued.
What do you mean?
"It is said that the first hundred steps of the Heavenly Ladder actually correspond to the Acquired Realm cultivation level of a martial artist."
To reach level 100, one must have the cultivation of a martial arts grandmaster, which is the perfected Inner Strength Realm.
To go further, one must cultivate the power of the soul in order to withstand the pressure.
There's a saying that martial artists in the Acquired Realm continue to climb higher after passing the hundredth level.
Each step up represents one's potential.
The higher you climb, the greater your potential.
"The greater the achievements you will attain once you reach the Innate Realm."
"There's actually such a saying. No wonder Young Master Bai and the others are still persevering despite their obvious difficulties," Ma Gu exclaimed.
It turned out that while they were chatting, Bai Bufan and his group had climbed more than ten steps.
But once they got here, they began to show obvious signs of strain.
You can no longer jump continuously like before. Instead, you have to rest and recharge after each step you climb before jumping again.
"Someone is going to fall behind."
Lu Qing noticed that one of them had been resting for a longer time and had fallen behind the others by two steps.
Lin Zhirui glanced at him and said, "That's Qin Yunting, a true disciple of the Xuanxin Sect. His martial arts style focuses on lightness and agility, which will indeed put him at a disadvantage when climbing the Heavenly Ladder."
Upon hearing that she was a disciple of the Xuanxin Sect, Lu Qing and the others couldn't help but glance at Hu Zezhi.
Her original purpose in leaving Qinglong City was to go to Xuanxin Sect to participate in the disciple recruitment ceremony.
Hu Zezhi's feelings were also somewhat complicated.
Although she had no relation to Qin Yunting, she still felt a little strange seeing that the true disciples of the sect she once admired had fallen to the bottom.
"Your Excellency Zhi Rui, have you ever climbed the Heavenly Ladder before?"
At this moment, Wei Zian asked curiously.
“Of course there is,” Lin Zhirui said with a smile. “I grew up in the Holy City, and climbing the Heavenly Ladder is something that warriors in the Holy City often compete against each other. Naturally, I am no exception.”
"Where is the highest point you've ever climbed?"
This piqued the curiosity of even Lu Qing and the others.
"To my shame, before breaking through to the Innate Realm, my highest achievement was only the 171st level."
"One hundred and seventy-one, that's already very high!" Wei Zian exclaimed.
He looked at Bai Bufan and the others on the Heavenly Ladder. They were only at the 130th or 140th level, and they were already finding it difficult to jump any further.
It takes a long time to rest before you can barely climb to the next level.
No wonder that despite being one of the Ten Outstanding Talents, Lord Zhi Rui entered the Innate Realm so much earlier than the others on the Heavenly Ladder.
The difference in their potential is indeed quite significant.
"Your Excellency Zhi Rui is indeed remarkable."
Magu and his companions were equally amazed.
"It's only level 171, nothing to brag about." Lin Zhirui shook his head. "There are countless geniuses in the world, and many more are stronger than me."
Putting aside everything else, among the Ten Heroes, another one who has already entered the Innate Realm is much more powerful than me.
His score on the ladder was 189.
"One hundred and eighty-nine!" Wei Zian and the others exclaimed in surprise once again.
Having heard Lin Zhirui's explanation, they all knew that climbing the Heavenly Ladder became increasingly difficult as they progressed.
The difference of just one level can translate into a huge gap in terms of ability and potential.
That person was actually more than ten levels higher than Lin Zhirui, and their potential was far greater than his.
"Your Excellency, according to you, the history of climbing the ladder to heaven is very long."
"Over all these years, who has reached the highest level among acquired martial artists?"
“Well...” Lin Zhirui thought for a moment before saying, “According to the records of my Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, among the martial artists in the Acquired Realm, the one who climbed the Heavenly Ladder the highest should be a martial artist named ‘Di Yu’.”
"Di Yu?"
"That's right, but that happened more than a thousand years ago, and this 'Emperor Feather' has long since passed away."
It is said that his record for climbing the ladder to heaven was 199 steps.
"One hundred and ninety-nine?!"
Magu and the others exclaimed in surprise.
This achievement is a full ten levels higher than the other member of the Ten Outstanding Individuals that Lin Zhirui just mentioned.
"That's right, and this should be the highest level that a martial artist in the Acquired Realm can reach."
It is said that the suppressive power of level 200 is several times stronger than that of level 199.
Even a true expert at the Innate Realm would have to be extremely careful to deal with it.
That completely exceeded the limits of a martial artist in the Acquired Realm; no martial artist in the Acquired Realm could withstand that kind of pressure.
"In other words, that 'Emperor Feather' roughly represents the limit of potential for a martial artist in the Acquired Realm. I wonder what realm this senior later reached?"
Lu Qing asked with great interest.
However, to Lu Qing's surprise, Lin Zhirui shook his head.
"No, he died before he could break through to the Innate Realm."
"He died before even reaching the Innate Realm?"
Everyone was taken aback.
"How could this be? With this senior's talent, how could he possibly fail to break through to the Innate Realm?" Wei Zian said in disbelief.
Lu Qing, however, seemed to be deep in thought and said, "Could it be..."
"That's right, 'Di Yu' was assassinated on the second day after he reached the 199th level of the Heavenly Ladder."
Lin Zhirui nodded and sighed.
"The tallest tree in the forest is bound to be felled by the wind. 'Di Yu' has climbed to the 199th step of the Heavenly Ladder, demonstrating tremendous potential."
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, as long as he can grow up smoothly, he will surely become a martial arts giant, virtually invincible.
For some ambitious individuals, the very existence of such a peerless genius is a mistake and a threat.
Furthermore, 'Di Yu' itself only comes from a small sect and does not have a powerful background.
Therefore, after he climbed the Heavenly Ladder, he was discovered the next day and killed in the inn where he was staying.
Even now, no one knows who actually did it.
Lu Qing and the others fell silent for a moment.
It's unbelievable that this strongest genius from over a thousand years ago would end up like this.
Ma Gu and Wei Zi'an, in particular, were filled with lingering fear.
To be honest, they had actually been trying to persuade Lu Qing to climb the Heavenly Ladder as well.
After all, in their eyes, Lu Qing's strength was unfathomable, comparable to that of a person in the Innate Realm.
If he were to climb the Heavenly Ladder, he would surely make a name for himself, far more impressive than the so-called Ten Heroes who are currently struggling to climb it.
But now, after hearing Lin Zhirui's words, they dared not do so.
There's nothing we can do about it; when it comes to weak backgrounds, aren't they the most typical example?
Both Ma Gu and Lu Qing can be described as being unaffiliated with any sect or faction.
The only one with some connections is Wei Zian.
But what is the Wei family compared to the Central Plains?
If those major sects have any ulterior motives and want to control them, it won't be too easy for them.
Therefore, neither of them dared to entertain the idea again.
Lu Qing, however, vaguely sensed that Lin Zhirui's words contained some kind of warning.
He didn't reveal the truth, but looked ahead and suddenly said, "The battle is about to be decided up there."
