Next was Shui Bing'er.
When she stepped out from the back, all five of them fell silent in tacit understanding.
They had all seen Shui Bing'er's training intensity over the past year. She was almost always the first to arrive at the Sea God's Light Stairway each day, even earlier than Bing Yekong.
Sometimes, before dawn had even broken, she would already be climbing the stairway alone in silence. She would descend only after exhausting herself, sit cross-legged to refine the energy, and by the time Bing Yekong arrived, she had often already completed a full ascent and descent.
Her assessment required her to reach the 188th step. This number was a whole tier higher than the previous four; the difficulty of the Red-Level Eight Trials was already evident in the amount of the assessment.
When Shui Bing'er stepped onto the first stair, her expression was no different from usual, calm as a cup of plain cooled water.
She raised her foot and climbed step by step. Her strides were not large, but her pace was extremely fast, and she paused on each step for so little time that it was almost negligible.
She reached the first hundred steps in the time it took to drink a cup of tea, faster than even Feng Xiaotian's best speed.
At the 120th step, her breathing remained steady.
At the 150th step, her pace slowed, but she continued climbing.
At the 170th step, sweat began to bead on her forehead. The fabric across her back was soaked through and clung to her body.
The Sea God's Light surged violently around her. Its golden halo was shattered by her body, only to gather again behind her.
The 180th step.
Everyone held their breath below, and no one spoke. The knuckles of Huo Wu's fingers