The ancient pass radiated boundless light and imperial might, like an ancient behemoth that had slumbered for countless years finally opening its eyes.
"Buzz!"
Golden light poured out from the crack in the door, carrying ancient laws and tides, dyeing the entire starry sky a hazy gold.
"Boom!"
Two massive, dark golden doors finally opened slowly amidst the watchful eyes of the crowd.
The chaotic light spilling from the crack in the door, like an inverted Milky Way, instantly engulfed the entire vast star field.
"It's open!"
Everyone felt the laws beneath their feet collapsing and being rebuilt, as if the world itself was undergoing a transformation.
" The Ultimate Ancient Pass has opened!"
"Rush!"
Someone shouted first, and then countless figures swarmed towards the open doorway like locusts.
Lin Fan walked slowly and deliberately, with Gu Chen and Ji Kun following closely behind.
The moment you step into the ancient pass, the scenery before your eyes changes abruptly.
It was no longer a star field, but a separate little world.
Above was a hazy gray sky, and below was a huge plaza paved with Bai Yu. At the end of the plaza, a towering staircase reached straight into the sky.
" The Heavenly Ladder..."
Some people looked up and gasped.
The entire structure is made of a certain transparent crystal!
Each step emitted a faint celestial light, layer upon layer extending towards the sky, each level separated by millions of feet, like an insurmountable chasm.
The higher you go, the more violently the laws fluctuate on the steps.
It was as if the entire world was refusing to let the climber get close.
At the highest point, six futons floated in the void, emitting a soft golden light.
Divided into three tiers from highest to lowest, the tallest futon is a size larger than the other five, and its golden light is the most intense, like a miniature sun. Chaos Qi flows within the futon, and the aura of Law of the Immortal Dao can be faintly heard.
Welcome to the Ultimate Ancient Pass.
A vast and majestic voice echoed from the depths of the ancient pass, ancient and authoritative, reverberating in the ears of every cultivator. "Ascend the Heavenly Ladder. Whoever occupies one of the six futons on the Heavenly Ladder will be led to the Ultimate Ancient Land! The futon at the highest point offers the opportunity to comprehend the Immortal Stele."
Immortal Stele!
The cultivators' eyes instantly turned red.
These two words were like a fire, instantly shattering the silence under the starry sky. Some people could no longer contain themselves and leaped up, rushing towards the Heavenly Ladder.
"Charge!"
Someone shouted first, and everyone started moving.
It wasn't just one or two people, but countless cultivators...
Sage, Great Saint, Sage King —these prodigies and geniuses who had fought their way through the Immortal Ancient Ruins —all transformed into streaks of light, rushing headlong toward the towering Immortal Ladder.
"I've cultivated for so many years, all for this moment!"
" The Immortal Stele is mine! Anyone who dares to stop me, I'll slaughter their entire family!"
"Get out of my way! Don't block my path!"
"Brother, don't worry, I will definitely take good care of your wife!"
Laws danced, and blood flashed.
The bottom of the Immortal Ladder instantly descended into chaos.
Some people had just stepped onto a single step when they were forced to their knees by a terrifying pressure, unable to even straighten their backs.
Bang!
With a muffled thud, another person had just stepped onto the first step when he was thrown back as if he had crashed into an invisible wall, spitting blood as he landed on the Bai Yu square.
"This Heavenly Ladder... has a suppressive effect!"
"Suppression at the level of laws! The higher you go, the more terrifying it becomes!"
"Anyone below the Great Sage Realm can't even get to the first level!"
The square erupted in chaos.
Some people, refusing to believe in such superstitions, unleashed their full cultivation to force their way through. As a result, just as half their bodies stepped onto the stairs, they heard the cracking sound of bones breaking, screamed in agony, and tumbled down.
But many more people have already taken action.
Hundreds of figures soared into the sky, rushing towards different levels of the Heavenly Ladder. Laws collided in the void, divine powers intertwined on the steps, and blood light and immortal light flashed alternately.
"Ah no!"
Some people gritted their teeth and tried to hold on, but a Sword Qi pierced their backs, causing them to fall from the Immortal Ladder like a kite with a broken string.
Blood splattered across the sky as severed limbs and torsos fell from the heights, covering the cultivators still climbing at the bottom in blood.
The scene was extremely chaotic.
Fist imprints, sword light, blade aura, and supernatural powers intertwined to form a dazzling yet deadly net.
The Immortal Ladder to immortality was a scene of carnage, a veritable Asura. Every second, people fell, and every second, others climbed over the corpses of others.
Chaos reigned on the Heavenly Ladder.
Lin Fan stood at the edge of the plaza, watching the chaotic battle unfold before him, a slight smirk playing on his lips. "This... is more interesting."
Gu Chen, carrying the broken halberd, glanced at the battle on the Heavenly Ladder: "Imperial Prince, are we not going up now?"
Lin Fan said slowly, "No rush, let them perform for a while. Those who charge in first are just cannon fodder. Let's watch the show."
Ji Kun nodded vigorously beside him. "Yes, yes, yes, let's watch the show first! It'll be easier if we go in after they're tired!"
"This is the Ultimate Ancient Battle."
Someone murmured, "The bloody path that every emperor and sovereign must traverse, only the strongest, sweeping aside their peers, can sit on the six prayer mats. The rest are merely stepping stones."
"Look, the first group hasn't moved yet."
Someone glanced back at the bottom of the Immortal Ladder.
There were a few people standing there.
The Five-Crown King stood with his hands behind his back, his black hair as black as ink, his gaze calmly fixed on the chaotic Immortal Ladder, as if watching a group of ants fighting for food.
The Forbidden Lord of the Deadlands had the void around him slightly distorted, as if he might disappear from the spot at any moment.
A freak shrouded in a dense aura of bloodlust, covered in jet-black scales, with a cold smile on his lips.
A woman draped in a black cloak, her face obscured except for half of her snow-white chin, exuded a faint aura of the underworld.
The sixth figure was a young man carrying an ancient sword on his back. His entire body exuded Sword Intent, and standing there, he was like an unsheathed peerless ancient sword, its sharpness dazzling.
They are the most likely to attain enlightenment!
They were all waiting, waiting until the stepping stones on the road to the six great meditation cushions were almost laid out, before they made their move at their leisure.
The battle on the Heavenly Ladder has reached a fever pitch.
Someone had just reached the tenth floor when they were cleaved in two by a flash of light from behind.
Someone on the fifteenth floor activated a secret technique, transforming into a massive fireball that engulfed all the surrounding competitors.
Someone had barely gained their footing when several chains of law suddenly erupted from the steps beneath their feet, binding them tightly before someone nearby beheaded them with a single sword strike.
cruel.
But everyone has gotten used to it.
Those who have reached this point, haven't they all climbed over corpses to get there?
The first few dozen levels of the Heavenly Ladder were filled with almost non-stop fighting, with blood flowing down the transparent steps like a river, converging into a stream in the Bai Yu square.
Gradually, the number of people who reached the top began to dwindle.
Some people did reach the summit, but fewer than a hundred people actually made it! Yet each and every one of them was a prodigy who had fought his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood!
"The sixth prayer cushion is occupied!"
"He's a swordsman! He broke through the encirclement!"
"The fifth prayer cushion is occupied too!"
Someone in the square exclaimed in surprise.
At the top of the Heavenly Ladder, on the sixth futon, a figure covered in blood sat cross-legged, surrounded by surging sword energy, and actually managed to sit firmly.
The fifth prayer mat was then occupied by a young woman shrouded in a chilling aura, her face cold and stern, who froze three challengers with a mere wave of her hand.
But everyone's gaze eventually converged on the highest point of the Heavenly Ladder.
The first meditation cushion.
That's the direct ticket to gaining access to the Immortal Stele.
Everyone only dared to grab the three prayer cushions in the third batch!
No one dared to try it lightly, because everyone knew that the one who could sit in that position was undoubtedly the strongest in the final battle.
If you get on halfway through, you'll just become a target.
really.
The first person moved. "Hmph, a bunch of trash, they can't even stand firmly on the first step, yet they dare to compete for the Immortal Stele?"