"Ancestor, what's Asura God saying now? Can he still come out and cause trouble?"
"Although he can't interfere with the affairs of the lower world, Slaughter City is, after all, his inheritance grounds, so he can still exert some control over it. He can't come down here and kill you, but he can give you an Asura Nine Trials and set a few impossible tests. That's still within his power!"
Qian Xunqian: "That's great! I get an Asura Godhood for free!"
"From what I know of Asura God, he'd definitely arrange trials like this for you: Asura God's First Trial: spend one day in congress with Asura God's divine sense; Asura God's Second Trial: spend two days in congress with Asura God's avatar..."
Qian Xunqian: ...
The world fell silent. Angel God and Qian Xunqian lapsed into a tacit silence.
"I don't dare go anymore."
Qian Xunqian wanted to go to Slaughter City for more than just improving her strength. She also hoped to use her power of light to remake and assimilate it, just as she had with the Evil God Pearl embedded in her Head Spirit Bone.
She'd transform Slaughter City into a prison for the Spirit Hall, from top to bottom!
After all, it was in Asura God's hands, and she didn't feel at ease about that. If one day the King of Slaughter received an order from Asura God to take revenge on society—
"Release every fallen person and Evil Spirit Master in Slaughter City"—that would give Qian Xunqian a massive headache.
"If your ancestor were a little stronger, at the level of a God King, I could help you turn down the Asura God Trial! But as things stand, the Angel God Trial ranks below the Asura God Trial. Sigh..."
Qian Xunqian spotted the flaw. Remembering what her ancestor had said earlier about a Self-Created Godhood, an utterly wild idea suddenly sprang to mind, took root, and began to take shape...
"All right! Hurry up and begin your Third Trial! The Third Trial is called 'Climb the Angel God Staircase.' It has 999 steps, and you have to climb from the very first to the very last. Each step will pit you against an illusion of a certain strength. You can only advance to the next step after defeating the illusion!"
Qian Xunqian sighed in frustration. "If only I'd chosen a Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo for my first Spirit Skill back then. Then I could use my Angel pole vault to leap straight to the top in one go and finish the trial in an instant!"
Angel God stared at her in bewilderment. "Child, do you have a fever? Has it cooked your brain? What nonsense are you spouting? Have you been under too much pressure lately? For the sake of your mental health, how about we put the trial off for a while?"
"No, no, no! It's a meme from our Douluo Continent. Let's begin, Ancestor. I can't wait!"
"As you wish. Angel's Third Trial: Climb the Angel God Staircase—begin! Reach the final step within one year. Reward: one God-Bestowed Spirit Ring. Failure penalty: dye your hair gold."
Qian Xunqian suddenly felt like she'd been set up. To defend her long, straight black hair—charge!
All she could say was that Angel God shared a table with Sea God when it came to taste. Sea God liked blue and gold, so the Sea God Staircase was pure blue and gold. As for Angel God's steps, well, no need to say more—they were bright enough to blind her!
Starting with a massive debuff, how was she supposed to play this? Damn Angel God, didn't she know her Martial Soul was the Angel Eye? With all that golden light, Qian Xunqian couldn't even open her eyes! What the hell, she was reporting this—there was foul play!
Still, she had to climb the steps. The first three hundred were no trouble at all for Qian Xunqian. The illusions on the steps exploded just from looking at her, and she could climb a step in practically one breath.
The difficulty only began at step 301. The illusions' spiritual power shot straight up, but for Qian Xunqian, they were still no more than a single "Electric Eye Intimidation."
She charged up another hundred steps. Although each illusion was three percent stronger than the one before, Qian Xunqian felt no pressure at all. To her, the monster on step 400 was no different from the one on step 301.
If she had to name a difference, it was that the monster on step 400 took two laser blasts to kill, while the one on step 301 only needed one.
Besides, she'd just condensed a Soul Core, which could automatically absorb the spiritual energy around her and convert it into Soul Power. She didn't have to worry about running out of supplies. After climbing four hundred steps in one go, she'd used up only thirty percent of her Soul Power.
Qian Xunqian, not even out of breath and very much asking for trouble, shouted up at the sky:
"Ancestor, is this all your Angel God Staircase has got? Bet you I can finish it in a day! If the rest of the staircase is full of opponents this weak, I suggest you go buy yourself a stronger one!"
Angel God was incensed. People sometimes laughed when they were angry, and Angel God's laugh was terrifying.
"Fine! I'll make it a little harder for you!"
With that, Angel God unleashed the pressure of a level 99 Limit Douluo. For the next 599 steps, Qian Xunqian would have to keep climbing under that pressure!
It was true what they said: if you didn't go looking for trouble, trouble wouldn't find you. Although she was a level 90 Soul Douluo, resisting the pressure of a Limit Douluo was no joke. Qian Xunqian had to set aside half her Soul Power just to withstand it.
What was more, starting from step 401, Angel God seemed to have changed the monster-spawning rules on the fly. The illusion on step 400 had only been a Soul Emperor, but step 401 unleashed a Soul Douluo right away.
Qian Xunqian: I...
Her climbing speed slowed noticeably. Faced with Soul Douluo-level illusions equal to her own rank, Qian Xunqian couldn't take them down effortlessly at once. She had to struggle before she could make it to the next step.
By the time she reached step 456, Qian Xunqian couldn't take it anymore. She quickly raised her hand and asked to pause. Her Soul Power was depleted.
"Ohoho, giving up already? You haven't even climbed halfway! Who was it that kept saying she'd finish in a day?" Angel God's Taunt arrived right on schedule.
"Ancestor, you cheated! You changed the rules halfway through. I refuse to accept this!" Qian Xunqian scratched at her head in frustration.
"Don't accept it? Then dye your hair gold!"
"No way! Absolutely not! Just you wait, Ancestor. I'll eat and restore my Soul Power, then I'll come back!"
Qian Xunqian saved her progress and exited the divine trial. A whole day had passed. Her stomach was growling with hunger. It was already the middle of the night, and everyone else was fast asleep. She had no choice but to see what was left in the kitchen.
Although Angel God's trial had drained her Soul Power, she'd condensed a Soul Core, so she recovered fairly quickly. At the very least, she still had enough strength to cook.
The kitchen fire was out, but a roast chicken and a bucket of rice were still being kept warm in the rice cooker. They must have been left for her. Qian Xunqian felt a warm glow in her heart.
She took two eggs from the kitchen. With a snap of her left hand, a flame sprang from her fingertip. In her right hand, she held an egg and knocked it firmly against the cutting board twice. With a squeeze, she cracked it over the flame. Supported by her Soul Power, the egg floated in midair as its liquid slowly set. Before long, she'd fried a perfect sunny-side-up egg.
Don't ask why she didn't use a pan. She did it this way because it looked cool!