Bang! Bang! Bang!
Lu Ren unleashed his full strength and slew every flame beast within a few breaths.
He also discovered that killing them made his killing intent grow stronger.
He was overjoyed. Perhaps the forty-nine trials would raise his killing intent to the ninth level and bring his Nine Kill Asura Saint Body to perfection.
After all, any Martial Emperor who wished to enter the Saint Realm had to cultivate a saint body and perfect it.
The flame beasts shattered into masses of firelight, which gathered into a blazing gate.
Lu Ren entered the Reincarnation Ancient Pagoda. Once his profound energy had recovered, he turned into a streak of lightning and shot through the gate.
The next moment, he found himself back on the first Golden Step.
Everyone else still stood there, looking dazed and wreathed in golden light. They were clearly undergoing the first trial of the Imperial Ladder.
Lu Ren did not hesitate. He stepped onto the second stair.
Golden ripples spread beneath his foot again, as though he had stepped onto the surface of a golden lake.
Once more, Lu Ren entered a Small World.
Boom!
This was a world of swords. Sword Qi crisscrossed the air, while the phantoms of numerous Sword Dao masters gripped solid longswords and unleashed astonishing sword techniques at Lu Ren.
Those Sword Dao masters were still Fourth Stage Martial Emperors.
"Looks like I guessed right. Each stair holds the trial of a Small World, and the opponents inside are at the same cultivation level as me!"
Lu Ren thought to himself.
No wonder the Imperial Ladder's trials were said to depend on talent rather than cultivation level.
The opponents in each Small World matched his cultivation. To pass easily, he needed talent: the greater his talent, the better he could