The Forty-Ninth Stairway

"Lei Yun was eliminated too!"

"Lei Yun couldn't withstand the pressure on the thirty-seventh stairway and retreated to the thirty-sixth. What a shame."

"Now Qin Hao is the only one left on the Azure Flame Heavenly Stairway."

Below the stairway, everyone talked at once, their faces alight with excitement.

Even among the Six Great Geniuses, the highest anyone had climbed was the thirty-sixth stairway.

Yet Qin Hao had reached the forty-second.

At the front of the crowd, Lei Yun's face darkened as he stared fixedly at Qin Hao's back.

He could not accept that he had lost to Qin Hao, a son of a minor Lineage.

After a long while, Lei Yun said darkly, "So what if he reached the forty-second stairway? If he can't reach the forty-ninth, he'll still be an Azure Flame Sect Outer Disciple."

"Still an Outer Disciple? If you're so capable, Great Genius Lei, why don't you try reaching the forty-second stairway?"

Xu Hongying had heard him. She spoke with a teasing grin.

"Xu Hongying!"

Lei Yun's expression turned ugly, his face full of murderous intent. "I haven't settled the score from last time. Once Qin Hao comes down, I'll make you two a pair of star-crossed lovers."

"Come on, then, Lei Yun! Do you really think everyone's afraid of you?" Xu Hongying gave no ground.

"You don't know when you're courting death!"

Lei Yun snorted and looked back at Qin Hao, fervently hoping he would fall—or better yet, that the pressure would pierce his Divine Soul and leave him an idiot forever.

Meanwhile, everyone else was discussing Qin Hao eagerly.

"I can't wait to see how far he gets! Maybe he'll reach the forty-third stairway?"

"The forty-third might be possible. He might even make the forty-fourth. But there's no way he'll reach the forty-ninth. The