The steps were a rich crimson, like flowing blood. The instant she stepped onto them, they transformed into a boundless sea of blood. Countless whirlpools sprang into existence above it, their powerful suction seeming to drag her down to the seabed and drown her at once.
But Si Hong Qingyan immediately unleashed an aura of the same origin as the sea, easily breaking free of its pull and stepping onto the second level.
This level was as black as ink, sinister and terrifying. Soul Dao methods were merely its outward appearance; within, countless living beings howled and roared, their venomous resentment surging like a sea. The gathered masses swarmed like ants, gnawing at her flesh, while an endless flood of fear, regret, horror, stray thoughts, and resentment assailed her Dao Heart from the unseen depths...
Just as before, Si Hong Qingyan made little effort before stepping onto the third level.
Now, it was as if she had entered an endless field of snow.
A bone-chilling cold swept over everything. It seemed that the entire world rejected and cursed every living being who entered.
In the blink of an eye, snow poured down in billowing waves. As heaven and earth shattered, boundless malice bore down upon Si Hong Qingyan...
This Dao Lineage Stairway had been formed around the Myriad Beings Dao and the Heaven and Earth Dao, with the inheritances of the many Sacred Sects as its foundation. It tested whether the younger generation ascending to the Sect Master Position had mastered their sect's inheritance thoroughly.
Back then, Su Lijing had been only at the Void Refinement Realm, yet he had still ascended smoothly and assumed the position. As for Si Hong Qingyan now, not only had she cultivated for another century, she had also survived two more Dao Tribulations. Her