The twenty-sixth step!
Li Yun stood there, gasping for breath, his whole body soaked in sweat.
Cang Yun had condensed into a fist-sized heavenly stone within his sea of consciousness. It gave off a deep, mysterious glow, like a star that had existed since time immemorial. His Sacred Will had been compressed into a thin golden thread that wound around the stone like lightning.
Above him, four steps remained.
Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty—those were heights only a Peak Martial King could reach.
Li Yun could feel that, in his current state, taking one more step was not impossible, but it would inevitably leave him badly injured.
The pressure of heaven and earth was still the pressure of heaven and earth. Bearing the weight of the entire world through personal strength alone was no easy feat. He had only wanted to test his limits, not hurt himself.
"Enough."
He murmured the word and turned to walk back down.
The twenty-sixth step was a height only a Martial King at the pinnacle could reach.
For a Martial Artist who had only just entered the Grandmaster realm, making it this far was already something to be proud of.
The instant he stepped off the Heavenly Ladder onto the Bluestone, every strange phenomenon vanished.
The sun sank westward, its last rays spilling into the valley and gilding everything. The stream burbled, and birds sang sweetly. Nothing had changed from five days ago.
Li Yun sat cross-legged beside the stream and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.
True Qi flowed slowly through his body, while Cang Yun hung motionless in his sea of consciousness.
Half an hour later, he opened his eyes and felt strength fill his entire body.
"Time to head back."
He rose, his figure flashing into a streak of light as