This Brat Finally Didn't Let Me Down

As soon as the words fell, everyone hurriedly retreated.

A few with relatively low cultivation were not fast enough. Before they could react, they were enveloped by the Nine Nether Blood Qi. The next moment, their bodies began to rot away, and they fell screaming to the ground.

That mass of Nine Nether Blood Qi also dispersed somewhat.

Seeing this, Ye Yu raised his head and looked toward the last remaining glimmer atop the mountain. This Nine Nether Blood Qi was merely leaking out; there was no further supply.

The true Nine Nether Blood Spring should have been sealed at the summit.

"So this is Nine Nether Blood Qi? It doesn't seem as terrifying as the rumors claimed." Liu Ruyan muttered.

Then, as though she had discovered a whole new world, she looked at Ye Yu with an expression that said she had seen through everything.

"Sure enough, the terror of the Nine Nether Blood Spring was all fabricated by people with ulterior motives."

It was not just Liu Ruyan. Everyone present frowned as they looked at the mass of Nine Nether Blood Qi before them. Some among them had truly seen the Nine Nether Blood Spring before.

This Nine Nether Blood Qi was indeed somewhat weak.

However weak it was, it still blocked the mountain gate, preventing them from going up.

"This is only a small wisp of Nine Nether Blood Qi. Everyone, let's form an array together and drive it away," Ye Xuan hurriedly said.

At once, the crowd joined forces. Spiritual power howled before the mountain gate, gradually pushing that mass of Nine Nether Blood Qi elsewhere and exposing the entire gate.

Seeing the Nine Nether Blood Qi resolved so easily, everyone let out a long breath, suddenly feeling as though they had survived a great calamity.

If this Nine Nether Blood Qi had been any larger or denser, then let alone obtaining opportunities in this secret realm, whether they could leave alive would have been a question.

A long stone staircase gradually appeared before them.

Many people could not wait to climb it.

The moment someone stepped onto the stone staircase, the entire stairway shook violently. Then, accompanied by an eruption of dazzling golden light, the outer shell of the staircase began to peel away.

What it revealed was a jade-white stairway stretching all the way to the mountaintop.

"This is the Ascending Heaven Staircase recorded in the ancient texts." Qin Ruoxian said in surprise.

According to ancient records, those who wished to enter the Sacred Pill Sect had to undergo the baptism of the Ascending Heaven Staircase. It was one of the Sacred Pill Sect's methods for testing a disciple's aptitude. The higher one climbed, the greater one's talent proved to be.

Only those acknowledged by the Ascending Heaven Staircase could enter the Sacred Pill Sect.

While everyone within the secret realm was still marveling at the Ascending Heaven Staircase, chaos had long since erupted outside the secret realm.

The major powers that had received the news had all gathered here by now. Experts at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage such as Situ Guang could only rank at the very bottom at this moment.

The emperors of the various dynasties and the sect masters of the major sects had all arrived.

After all, a cave dwelling suspected to belong to a Void Refinement Stage expert who had passed away was enough to drive them mad.

"Everyone, the situation is unclear right now. It would be best if we joined hands and investigated it first. What do you think?" Ye Fan asked, glancing around at the others.

"I think that will work. Once we have investigated the situation inside, we can discuss how to divide it. How about that?" an emperor from a dynasty in Leizhou stepped forward and said.

With the situation inside unknown, this was indeed the best course of action. Quite a few people immediately agreed.

Seeing that the majority had accepted, Ye Fan nodded. "It is said that the Qingyun Sect possesses a secret treasure capable of ignoring restrictions and spatial barriers to observe what lies within. I wonder if Sect Master Qingyun would be willing to take it out for us to use?"

Leng Qianqiu, the Qingyun Sect Master, nodded at those words. With a flip of his hand, an ancient bronze mirror appeared in it.

"This item is called the Sky-Gazing Mirror. Activating it requires an enormous amount of spiritual power. I hope everyone will lend a hand."

Hearing this, everyone exchanged glances before nodding in agreement.

In the current situation, anyone who stepped forward and offered to expend his own spiritual power alone to activate the Sky-Gazing Mirror would be a fool.

Ye Fan's gaze swept across the Sky-Gazing Mirror, and a flash of greed passed through his eyes. Then he said, "In that case, Sect Master Leng, please activate the secret treasure."

Leng Qianqiu nodded. He formed hand seals with both hands, and a streak of golden light flashed across the Sky-Gazing Mirror. It then rose into the air and hovered overhead. "Now! Everyone, pour in your spiritual power."

The leaders of all the factions acted together, their vast and formidable spiritual power streaming endlessly into the Sky-Gazing Mirror.

The radiance from the Sky-Gazing Mirror grew ever stronger. The next moment, it let out a resonant hum, and a massive curtain of light appeared before everyone.

Once the light curtain stabilized, the scene within the secret realm was laid bare before their eyes.

"Sacred Pill Sect!!!"

Someone immediately cried out in shock.

The Sacred Pill Sect's great name was recorded not only in Azure Prefecture, but also in Yunzhou and Leizhou. None of them had expected the secret realm to contain the ruins of the Sacred Pill Sect.

"Is that the Ascending Heaven Staircase?" Everyone's gaze was drawn to that long stretch of stairs.

Then Ye Yu and the others before the mountain gate were revealed to everyone's view as well.

Seeing that the few of them were unharmed, Qin Wushuang immediately let out a long breath.

"I see that all of your descendants or disciples are attempting the staircase. If we forcibly break the seal right now, it may cause spatial turbulence, and the people inside could be endangered as well. How about we observe for now?" Leng Qianqiu suggested.

As he spoke, Leng Qianqiu secretly crushed a jade talisman and sent word back to his sect.

The Sacred Pill Sect ruins had appeared in the world, and a struggle for them was inevitable. Without absolute certainty, they could not act rashly.

Leng Qianqiu was not the only one with such thoughts. Several powerful factions with deep foundations nodded in agreement.

Though the other factions were unwilling, they could only accept it.

"Look, someone's climbing the staircase!" someone suddenly exclaimed. Everyone forgot everything else and stared fixedly at the curtain of light.

Each of them hoped that someone from their own faction would be the first to enter the Sacred Pill Sect. When that happened, they would surely gain the greatest benefits.

"Come on, let's try climbing the Ascending Heaven Staircase too." Ye Yu said to Qin Ruoxian before stepping onto the staircase with the others.

The instant he stepped onto it, Ye Yu felt a wave of pressure bearing down on him. The spiritual power within his body seemed to have been completely sealed.

"It seems the Ascending Heaven Staircase doesn't allow us to use spiritual power." Qin Ruoxian said in surprise.

"Perhaps they believed this was the only way to better test one's talent." Ye Yu shrugged indifferently and continued climbing.

At first, everyone's progress was roughly the same, but gradually, the gap widened.

Quite a few people stopped at the three-hundredth step, unable to advance even a single step further.

By the five-hundredth step, only one-third of them remained.

Those watching through the Sky-Gazing Mirror outside praised them repeatedly.

Those who had entered the secret realm might not have been the foremost figures of the younger generation among the major powers, but they were still outstanding talents.

Yet more than half had been eliminated after only five hundred steps.

The Sacred Pill Sect's threshold for accepting disciples was astonishingly high. It truly deserved to have once been the overlord of Azure Prefecture!

"Someone has reached the seven-hundredth step!"

As someone cried out in astonishment, everyone's eyes fixed on the figure at the highest point.

Once he saw the person's face clearly, the corners of Ye Fan's mouth lifted slightly. He then said with pride, "Not bad. This brat finally didn't let me down."