The bright moon hangs high, illuminating the Heaven-Gazing Ridge.
A figure climbed upwards, step by step, until he reached the fifty-second floor. Suddenly, the bright moon released a beam of light and shattered with a crash.
The figure vanished from the steps in an instant, collapsing to the ground below, his life force rapidly waning.
" Qingxue!"
Qi Zhengliu and the other elders of the Cinnabar Cloud Sword Sect all changed their expressions and hurriedly stepped forward to help Luo Qingxue up.
Are you alright, Qingxue?
"Quickly, where's the pill? Take it!"
The elders hurriedly stuffed the pills into Luo Qingxue's mouth, and only stopped when they saw that the blood in Luo Qingxue's mouth was barely stopping from gushing out, and they let out a long breath.
Luo Qingxue forced a smile and managed to pull herself together.
"Sect Master, Master, Elders..."
She looked at them one by one, her voice choked with sobs, filled with unspeakable grievance and resentment, tears streaming down her face.
" Qingxue is useless; I've let you down."
"What kind of talk is that?"
Although Qi Zhengliu felt a bit helpless and disappointed, he didn't hesitate to deny it. He wiped away the tears on Luo Qingxue's cheeks, his eyes filled with affection and heartache, and sighed heavily.
"You've done your best, Qingxue. Don't take all the blame on yourself. This isn't your fault; you've done very well."
"Yes."
The elders nearby also spoke up to comfort them.
" Qingxue, don't blame yourself too much."
"Fifty-two floors, that's already a pretty good result."
Chunyang, who had always had a good relationship with Luo Qingxue, even dragged his ailing body to her side and gently coaxed her.
"Sister Qingxue, we can all see that you have put in your best effort."
"You're amazing, Qingxue- jie."
Everyone in the Cinnabar Cloud Sword Sect could see that Luo Qingxue had truly done her best.
If she hadn't been injured and her energy hadn't been depleted, she might not have lost to the Purple Firmament Palace so easily.
Fifty-two, that's already a very good result.
Once you've crossed that huge threshold, every step after that won't be as difficult. Unfortunately, one careless step and you fall down here, and there's nothing you can do about it.
Now, almost everything has come to light.
In the future, I fear...
Among the four major sects, the Cinnabar Cloud Sword Sect no longer exists!
This realization left everyone within the Cinnabar Cloud Sword Sect silent, their faces grim, filled with helplessness and resentment, yet utterly powerless to do anything else.
The other three major sects did not react, and each sect leader's expression was quite indifferent.
It was as if this whole thing was already within their expectations, and they didn't even bother to say anything sarcastic to the Cinnabar Cloud Sword Sect, because everything was under their complete control.
It was exactly as they had imagined.
The Purple Firmament Palace scoffed twice, their sarcasm evident in their words.
Such an expression, such treatment, made Qi Zhengliu's heart sink heavily.
He moved his lips, managing a bitter smile.
It's over.
Everything is over.
The Cinnabar Cloud Sword Sect only has one Heaven-Gazing Ridge, and now, there are no disciples left to climb it...
Who is that?
An elder beside him suddenly voiced a question.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound, and following the elder's gaze, they saw that inside Heaven-Gazing Ridge, a figure had already entered at some point.
Just now, almost everyone was focused on the Cinnabar Cloud Sword Sect, and virtually no one paid attention to the white jade steps of Heaven-Gazing Ridge. Now, a figure has suddenly appeared on the first step of the white jade steps, which has surprised everyone.
Who is so bold as to venture in after the ten most outstanding talents?
Looking around.
Basically, every sect has disciples who can be considered geniuses; there are no shortage of them.
No matter how I look at it, I can't figure out who broke in.
Could they be people from outside Heaven-Gazing Ridge?
However, without the Heaven-Gazing Token, the difficulty is terrifying. Even that prodigy from the Nine Heavens Sect tried it, and it's already at the very top. How could anyone dare to repeat the same mistake?
How ugly this is!
While everyone was stunned, they also turned their attention to Heaven-Gazing Ridge.
This is undoubtedly good news for the Cinnabar Cloud Sword Sect.
With far fewer gazes fixed on them, Qi Zhengliu's pressure was also greatly reduced. At least, he no longer had to bear the stares of others. In such an ironic moment, with attention diverted, everyone felt a bit more relaxed and became even more curious about who was climbing Heaven-Gazing Ridge.
It wasn't until everyone focused their attention on that person that they noticed something with some confusion.
"What... is this person doing?"
"Is the snail crawling?"
"Is he alright?"
slow!
Too slow!
No one expected that someone would be so bold as to break into Heaven-Gazing Ridge and bring them such a 'visual feast'.
Their speed, slower than a snail's, left them speechless.
And this is just the beginning!
Having just started, it's already taking half an incense stick's time for each step?
Is this really not a problem?
Everyone shook their heads.
"Well, I thought he was just a skilled and daring guy, but it turns out he's all daring, not skilled. Step by step, I bet he won't even make it to the ninth floor before he falls back down."
"Ninth? Hahaha... I bet it's sixth."
"At most, he'd only reach the third or fourth level."
"Speed within the Heaven-Gazing Ridge is linked to innate talent and temperament. This person is just so-so, yet he dares to imitate other prodigies. Truly..."
Almost no one had any confidence in the person climbing.
Moreover, the climbers were simply too slow.
It was so slow that they were starting to get bored.
Furthermore, since some people were already climbing Heaven-Gazing Ridge, it wasn't appropriate for the others to enter without permission. After all, this was the unspoken rule of the Heaven-Gazing Ridge trial; otherwise, it would be embarrassing to lose. This made many people who had considered trying it look rather unpleasant, with furrowed brows and pursed lips.
However, none of this affected Lang Ping at all.
That's right.
Lang Ping.
The person climbing Heaven-Gazing Ridge is Lang Ping!
Logically speaking, he shouldn't have come.
He was well aware that his qualifications were quite poor.
Let alone comparing him to the geniuses who possess the Heaven-Gazing Token, even compared to that one from the Nine Heavens Sect, he is far inferior.
But he still went.
Lang Ping's gaze fell upon the top of the white jade steps.
Top floor.
There is absolutely no way I can get up there.
There's even a very high chance I won't be able to get past the 50th floor.
Natural talent has indeed become a hurdle for me.
But so what?
Heavenly Dao is ruthless, treating all things as straw dogs. In the eyes of Heavenly Dao, everything in the world is the same, without any difference.
He wanted to give it a try.
So, he came.
With the body of a mortal, he questions the sword and the way of the Dao.
The talented can go there.
He may go there as well.