Chapter 272: Chapter 271: The Fifth Layer (4k Large Chapter Subscription Requested) - 2
He had just not been able to help himself and had sneakily attacked Shi Xiaole, but surprisingly, his attack hadn’t killed his opponent. Now, he was a bit worried. If Shi Xiaole revealed his identity, it would inevitably lead to trouble.
What baffled and relieved Qiu An was that Shi Xiaole didn’t say anything. He simply silently ascended the staircase.
"There are many masters in the Heavenly Treasure Ruins. If I kill you here, the Righteous Path probably won’t trace it back to the Sky Evil Sect," he thought.
Qiu An began to suspect Shi Xiaole’s intentions, and he started to sneer in disdain.
"Right here, I swear vengeance and will take your life with my own hands."
Step by step, he climbed upward. His back turned to the crowd of the Sky Evil Sect, Shi Xiaole appeared outwardly calm, but vengeance blazed in his heart. This anger eased much of the pain inflicted by the pressure.
"Damn it, you won’t escape," the old goat-bearded man muttered, his face darkening. His Internal Power was blocked by the Array System. In the end, he too grudgingly started towards the stairs. He vowed to kill Shi Xiaole even if he had to chase him to the Ends of the Earth.
Just they found the Array System was more challenging than the goat-bearded man had imagined.
They realized that under the influence of the Array System, they could only use their power spontaneously; they could not attack others, and could only resist some of the pressure. More of it had to be resisted through their own willpower.
After only two steps, he was already drenched in cold sweat from the severe pain. When he looked at Shi Xiaole steadily climbing, he was both shocked and angry, his murderous intent intensifying.
In the face of the astonished gazes from many martial artists, Shi Xiaole successfully ascended to the second floor, his figure quickly disappearing from sight.
The second floor had far fewer passageways than the first floor and was much quieter. It seemed that there weren’t many masters who had yet ascended. Seizing the opportunity, Shi Xiaole darted through the passageways, pushing open numerous stone chambers along the way.
In the third stone chamber, Shi Xiaole found a rare healing potion.
After consuming one, the injury inflicted by the goat-bearded elder rapidly healed. It was estimated that it would be fully healed within several "2-hour periods".
In the seventh stone chamber, Shi Xiaole found a book that detailed the architecture of various sects.
There were probably hundreds of stone chambers, filled with treasures. In some chambers, Shi Xiaole even sensed the presence of Spiritual Weapons, but the fights for these treasures were so intense that he didn’t dare to approach.
"Stop right there, boy."
Even with such caution, Shi Xiaole was noticed. The person who targeted him was a middle-aged redhead with a Xuan Qi of Seven, clearly more powerful than the goat-bearded elder.
The steps were available on all four sides of each floor. Shi Xiaole dashed at full speed and barely managed to ascend the eastern set of steps, leaving his pursuer behind.
"You’ll tumble back down soon enough."
The redhead sneered.
He had previously tried the steps on this floor himself but gave up after only a few steps due to inability to endure.
The steps were a test of willpower, not talent, and he didn’t believe that a greenhorn like Shi Xiaole could possibly prevail.
"He ascended?"
After a moment, the redhead’s eyes widened in disbelief.
His fixation on Shi Xiaole wasn’t unwarranted. There were only a few hundred rooms on the second floor, with only half of them containing items. The competition for these items grew fiercer as more martial artists ascended, and greenhorns like Shi Xiaole were quite a rare sight.
After some thought, the redhead turned and left. He couldn’t just wait around here; rather than wasting time, it would be better to look for a new target.
On the third floor, the number of rooms had decreased by more than half. The atmosphere reeked of fierce battles which intimidated Shi Xiaole. He quickly arrived at the steps to the fourth floor where several people were climbing.
The abilities of these climbers weren’t necessarily inferior to those fighting. Perhaps they were just not confident in securing the treasures, hence trying to ascend to the fourth floor as soon as possible.
Without wasting any more time, Shi Xiaole stepped onto the stairs.
Boom!
The pressure on this set of steps was extraordinarily high. It washed over Shi Xiaole like a massive wave from the Yangtze River. With every step, it felt like countless blades were scraping at his bones and meridians. The excruciating pain could cause even the steeliest of individuals to crumble.
One could say that the ones still on the stairs were the most ruthless people in the Martial World, ruthless not only towards others but even more so towards themselves.
With clenched teeth, Shi Xiaole stepped up the steps, slow but steady. Half a stick of incense later, he had surpassed everyone in front of him.
"That boy?"
"Brave."
Those people raised their heads, their eyes filled with a mix of admiration, jealousy, and intense coldness. If the treasures on the first three floors were so precious, what about the fourth floor?
When Shi Xiaole climbed up to the fourth floor, his body was drenched in sweat as if he were on the verge of collapse.
However, it was this pressure that sped up the absorption of toxins in his body, causing the purple color in his skin to fade and become rosy and white again.
Without loosening his vigilance, Shi Xiaole conserved his energy as he sprinted down the hallway.
Those who could reach the fourth floor of the Martial World not only had strong wills and characters but also significantly stronger abilities than most. After all, not everyone was like him, with a soul fused from two lifetimes, making his willpower many times stronger than the average person’s.
As expected, the place seemed quiet, but it was filled with lurking dangers.
Several times, the fluctuations caused by the collisions of several masters made Shi Xiaole’s blood surge, nearly injuring him severely.
In the nearest stone room, Shi Xiaole found a scroll and without a second thought, put it into his storage system, then quickly made his way to the ladder.
Not long after he left, a master arrived. The aura radiating from him was as deep and vast as the ocean, making one’s hair stand on end, almost suffocating.
This was a Spiritual-Passage Realm master.
The staircase on the fourth floor was different from the previous three, there was only one, and it was located on the eastern side, currently unoccupied.
It took a full two hours, but Shi Xiaole finally reached the fifth floor, crawling in agony due to the intense pain of his willpower. He felt like each breath he took was a torture.
Only after taking a good rest did he recover.
"Why did you stop me?"
"We can’t go up, so we can wait for him to come down, and then take the things he has. Isn’t that simpler?"
From the fork in the path next to the fourth-floor staircase, two people, a man and a woman emerged. The man was dressed in green, the woman in a lily pleated skirt, they were both Spiritual-Passage Realm masters.
The fifth floor only had one passage, it was located in the open stone room, with a stone tablet blocking the path.
"I value talent in my lifetime, those who are not swordsmen, those with mixed thoughts, do not enter the passage, you may descend from the hidden staircase without risk."
The words on the stone tablet were like sharp swords, piercing the eye. Even the Qingfeng Sword was affected, making a ringing sound.
"What profound Sword Dao Intent."
Shi Xiaole’s heart throbbed. If his guess was correct, these words should have been engraved by the Sword Marquis of the Heavenly Treasure many years ago. It was hard to imagine the heights the other party had achieved.
Before the stone tablet, there were five large boxes covered in dust. It appeared that Shi Xiaole was the first person to reach the fifth floor.
"Mystic Crystal Stones!"
The things inside the box made Shi Xiaole’s heart pound. They were all Mystic Crystal Stones, roughly estimated to be around three thousand.
Three thousand Mystic Crystal Stones might be insignificant for a master like the Sword Marquis of Heavenly Treasure, absorbing them would make no difference. But for Shi Xiaole, it was an indispensable wealth that could greatly boost his cultivation!
After quickly collecting the five large boxes, Shi Xiaole prepared to bypass the stone tablet and enter the passage. But suddenly, he felt a pang in his heart, forcing him to retreat.
"I... have mixed thoughts."
Thoughts of Qiu An crossed his mind, and Shi Xiaole recognized the cause. But the flames of revenge in his heart were hard to suppress.
After a long silence, he suddenly walked to the east side of the stone tablet.
There was a spiral staircase, very hidden, and it seemed to lead all the way to the bottom floor. Yet, the masters of each floor seemed oblivious to it, obviously obscured by the Array System.
This should be the side staircase mentioned by the Sword Marquis of the Heavenly Treasure. Perhaps the other party anticipated today’s scene and left it specially out of ’valuing talent’.
"Perhaps, I could take revenge first and then come back."
An audacious idea rose in his mind. With a cold glint in his eyes, Shi Xiaole turned around and walked back toward the staircase.
The Array System on the staircase was peculiar. Shi Xiaole could see the fourth floor from the fifth floor, but people on the fourth floor couldn’t see him.
So he decided to increase his strength here and then use the side ladder inside the stone room to sneak down and kill the enemy. In case someone came up the staircase halfway through, he could react in advance.
