"What happened? I was just one step away from reaching the next stair."
"Is it over? Why so suddenly?"
Just as the many cultivators on the Heavenly Stairway were looking bewildered, the sight of Di Chong and the others in the void made everything clear to them.
Then a voice as sonorous as great bronze bells rang out in everyone's ears:
"The trial is over."
A gleam flashed through everyone's eyes at those words. Although the trial had clearly ended, not a single person left.
Instead, more and more cultivators gathered, including quite a few Heavenly God Realm Dao Protectors, who stared fixedly at the gradually closing vortex in the sky.
Some weaker cultivators felt the oppressive atmosphere filling the void and rushed off into the distance.
Meanwhile, inside the Secret Realm.
Shi Qingyun slowly opened his eyes. The moment he did, he found that he had somehow arrived in a sea of stars.
Brilliant stars glittered all around him, flickering in the endless darkness and resonating with the Great Dao.
He looked at the endless dark abyss beneath his feet. Its depths made his skin crawl a little, as though a pair of eyes were watching him.
The instant after he awoke, the entire starry sky began flashing in unison, starlight spilling everywhere and flickering without cease.
It was as though the entire world had come alive. Strange sounds drifted from the depths of the starry sky.
Then he saw several of the brightest stars link together, forming the shape of a spear.
Star patterns were branded onto the spear, which gave off wisps of starlight. An inexplicable frost seemed to coat its tip. Even from far across the heavens, Shi Qingyun could still feel its sharpness.
The spear kept shrinking. The next instant, it became a pitch-black spear