As he said this, Xu Taiping had already stood up again.
As he continued forward, he took a rope from his ring, tied the Buddha statue to his back, and kept advancing step by step, his back bent.
The Wolf-Headed Yin God, who stood waiting on the steps above Xu Taiping, watched silently for a long while before turning his head and muttering:
"The human race is so fragile."
Yet as he stepped onto the next stair, he added quietly:
"And yet so frightening."
Thus, the Wolf-Headed Yin God and Xu Taiping once again climbed the final hundred steps, one ahead of the other, one step at a time.
Compared with the many trials Xu Taiping had faced earlier, this scene was no more than a single hair from nine oxen.
Yet for some reason, the spectating cultivators, whether in the teahouse or before their spirit mirrors, watched without making a sound.
Some cultivators even felt an inexplicable, solemn respect for Xu Taiping's projected image.
At Jade Balance Mountain, Xiahou You asked in bewilderment:
"Third Uncle, why do I feel that Xu Taiping, climbing those steps one by one, is even more... even more radiant than when he drove back the ghost horde in Jiaye Hall?"
Heavenly Lord Shihu, who had been silent for a long time, drew a deep breath before answering:
"Because Xu Taiping looks more like a human being now."
He immediately added:
"A living, breathing human being who presumes to use a human body to defy the Heavenly Dao's shackles upon the human physique."
At these words, Xiahou Qingyuan, who had still been somewhat dismissive, suddenly felt his heart jolt. He murmured, "Third Uncle, are you saying that Xu Taiping's body had already become Oil Exhausted and Lamp Extinguished while resisting that Otherworldly Evil God's possession?"