The Long God-Ascending Stairway, the Trial of Principles!

Shock? Fear? Awe?

These words are no longer sufficient to describe his feelings at this moment.

It is a kind of almost blank, stagnant feeling that arises after witnessing something great that transcends the limits of one's own cognition.

He felt that the martial arts he had believed in for the past few hundred years, and the world he had revered, had all become a joke in front of Divine Lord Su.

Su Zhan ignored the reactions of the people behind him.

He dealt with the three Elders and eliminated all threats to the wasteland.

The dark clouds that shrouded the sky, formed from deathly energy and resentment, seemed to have thinned slightly as they lost their source of power.

A sliver of light pierced through a gap in the clouds, illuminating the road ahead.

Su Zhan's gaze passed over the endless expanse of white bones and landed in the distance.

At the edge of that wasteland, on the line where the sky meets the earth, a colossal pyramid, entirely black and resembling an inverted mountain, finally came into complete view.

At the edge of the Skeleton Wasteland, death and resentment are left far behind.

Only when everyone actually stepped onto the foot of the Black Pyramid-Shaped Altar did they truly appreciate its grandeur and magnificence.

The Altar was not made of Ordinary Grade rock, but of a strange material that was entirely black and gleamed with a cold metallic sheen, its surface engraved with countless intricate and ancient Rune. These Rune had long since faded, yet they still exuded an aura of ancient desolation.

Looking up, a straight staircase, like a ladder to heaven, pierces straight into the clouds, with no end in sight.

"This... this is the Central Altar?"

Yuan Yuan tilted her head back, her small mouth slightly open, her voice filled with shock.

Before this colossal structure, which seems like a creation of the gods, humanity appears utterly insignificant.

Elder Yuan Ji's breathing became rapid. He could feel something deep within his blood resonating with this Altar. It was a sense of homecoming, like a wanderer returning home.

"My Divine Lord, according to the imprint of our ancestors' memories, this staircase is called the 'God-Ascending Steps,' with a total of nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine steps." Yuan Ji turned to Su Zhan and respectfully explained, "This is a place used by High Antiquity sects to test the character and strength of their disciples. Each step one takes will subject them to pressure from the Principle inherent in the [Mustard Seed Grotto-Heaven] itself."

He paused, a hint of pride and excitement appearing on his face.

"However, this pressure has no effect on our Yuan Household bloodline; in fact... it may even nourish us. Because we are the 'Key,' the masters of this place."

"I'll go ahead and scout ahead!"

Yuan Chou could no longer contain himself; he transformed the hatred for the severed head of his clansman into the driving force to reclaim his ancestral land.

He roared and was the first to step onto the black steps.

One step, two steps, three steps...

Yuan Chou was agile and steady. He did not feel any pressure at all. On the contrary, he felt streams of pure Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi flowing into his body from the soles of his feet, nourishing his limbs and bones.

"Hahaha! Awesome! So awesome!" Yuan Chou turned around and shouted excitedly, "This is even more comfortable than soaking in a medicinal bath!"

"Real!"

"Divine Lord, Elder, everyone, come up quickly!"

Seeing this, the other Yuan Household Disciples also stepped onto the God-Ascending Steps.

As Yuan Ji had said, they all walked with extraordinary ease. Some even closed their eyes, enjoying the baptism of the Power of Principle on their bloodline, their faces showing a comfortable expression.

This isn't a test; it's clearly an incredible fortuitous opportunity!

"My Divine Lord, let's go up too." Elder Yuan Ji gestured to Su Zhan, his face beaming with the joy of returning home.

Su Zhan nodded, his expression calm.

He lifted his foot and stepped onto the first step.

However.

The instant his feet touched the cold, black steps.

"Boom--!"

An indescribable, overwhelming, and terrifying repulsive force, without warning, surged towards him from all directions, from every corner of the [Mustard Seed Grotto-Heaven]!