Talent!
Strength!
Dao heart!
This first trial tested cultivators in every respect.
The fact that Ling Yun could ascend more than a hundred steps in a single stride was enough to show that his strength, talent, and Dao heart were all exceptional!
As for the Holy Son who had just fallen from the Heavenly Ladder, that did not mean his strength was inadequate or his talent poor.
The main reason he had suddenly fallen off the Heavenly Ladder was that seeing Ling Yun climb so quickly had stirred his jealousy and unsettled his Dao heart.
Once his Dao heart wavered, the Heavenly Ladder had blasted him away.
Though Bai Qianyu's explanation was brief, it clearly described the many tests they would face on the Heavenly Ladder.
By then, the Holy Sons of all nine Holy Lands had begun climbing the Heavenly Ladder.
Besides the Holy Sons, some True Disciples naturally wanted to test the Heavenly Ladder's power as well.
Yet eight or nine out of ten of these True Disciples were blasted away without even qualifying to set foot on it.
Several True Disciples from the Xuantian Holy Land tried as well, but they failed without taking a single step onto the Heavenly Ladder.
One after another, they returned behind Bai Qianyu with their heads hanging.
"There's no need to be upset. Talent is the foremost requirement for setting foot on the Heavenly Ladder! Your talent is too low, so naturally, you cannot step onto it."
Bai Qianyu comforted the disciples.
Talent was largely something one was born with.
Of course, some of it could be improved afterward, but that required sufficient fortuitous opportunities.
The Xuantian World was, after all, only a small world, an obscure existence even in the Lower Realm.
Those endowed with outstanding talent were ultimately few.