The instant Long Chen stepped onto the first stair, countless runes lit up throughout the staircase. It was like a beacon leading straight to the heavens.
At this moment, Long Chen felt an invisible energy press down on him and he curled his lips. Back in the day, he had climbed the Netherworld Heaven Staircase. Now he was climbing the Honing Heavenly Staircase.
Long Chen took giant steps, climbing up the stairs one by one. Just as expected, the pressure grew the higher he climbed.
However, this was nothing to Long Chen, and he climbed according to a specific tempo. It was only at the thirtieth stair that he actually felt some pressure.
That pressure couldn’t be said to be heavy to him. On the fortieth stair, he felt that invisible energy started to press down on his will.
The will was the foundation of the Dao-heart, and this place should be a place for tempering the will. Long Chen couldn’t help smiling. He had walked out of countless predicaments and arrived at the immortal world after climbing through a mountain of corpses. No one could shake his will, not even the heavens.
When Long Chen reached the fiftieth step, space twisted around him. An enormous pressure pressed down on him like he was suddenly carrying a mountain on his back.
Luo Changwu had said that the first forty-nine steps were for Four Peak disciples, while the latter steps were for Divine Lords. As expected, at the fifth step, Long Chen had a different feeling. The pressure on him had increased by over ten times. It wasn’t just targeting the will but also the physical body.
As he pressed onwards, the pressure only grew. But Long Chen still didn’t feel it to be too much. For an ordinary Divine Lord, their physical body would have reached the limit. But for Long Chen’s physical body, it was still unable to pose a threat.
At the sixtieth step, the pressure grew explosively once more. And at the seventieth step, his essence blood involuntarily quickened. His blood was instinctively circulating to resist the pressure.
The seventieth step was enough to crush ordinary Divine Lords. It had surpassed the tolerance level of the majority of Divine Lords.
At the seventy-ninth step, Long Chen sensed a powerful tearing power. It was like invisible hands trying to pull him apart.
This step was Luo Changwu’s limit. Long Chen couldn’t help shaking his head. This uncle of his must not specialize in the physical body, otherwise with his will, he could definitely progress further.
On the eightieth step, Long Chen’s body instinctively bent. He felt the space above him had been restricted, making him unable to stand up straight.
With a snort, Long Chen forced his body up. The stone step rumbled and runes exploded. At this moment, Long Chen felt as if he was trying to lift up a star. His whole body began to hurt slightly.
In truth, there was no need for him to do this. As long as he bent down, he wouldn’t have to endure this much pressure.
However, Long Chen’s pride refused to allow him to lower his head. That would be a concession, a display of powerlessness. That was already a kind of failure, especially on the Honing Heavenly Staircase when someone was watching him.
Furthermore, he had a feeling that if he lowered his head, he wouldn’t be able to reach the peak. One concession led to further concessions until there was nowhere left to go.
The eighty-first step caused the pressure to increase once more. At the eighty-fifth step, his divine flames automatically ignited. After that, at the eighty-ninth step, he felt immense power crashing down on him, and it was like he was within the chaotic flow of space, with his body being torn apart.
The next moment, golden dragon scales appeared on top of his body, and a dragon cry resounded throughout heaven and earth. Wild Blood Qi formed a pillar of golden light that scattered the clouds and changed the color of the world.
In that instant, all of the Luo family’s territory shuddered. Qin Feng, Bai Xiaole, and Xu Zixiong were accompanied by the Luo family’s experts and drinking tea when they heard the dragon cry. They then saw golden light split apart the clouds in the distance and jumped in shock. Qin Feng’s expression changed.
“No need to panic. Long Chen is charging up the Honing Heavenly Staircase. He’ll definitely have to use his full power,” said Luo Changwu. This wasn’t the result of someone fighting Long Chen and forcing him to go all-out.
In truth, while Luo Changwu had returned to accompany Qin Feng and the others and said such words, all of his attention was on the Honing Heavenly Staircase.
“That spot…” The Luo family’s experts stared at that height in shock.
“Yes, he’s already reached the ninetieth step,” said Luo Changwu. He was also shocked. He hadn’t expected Long Chen to get there so fast.
However, the faster you went, the greater the pressure at the end. The final nine steps in particular were the true honing steps. At the same time as Luo Changwu was shocked, he was also worried.
“The ninetieth step? He’s so powerful?” The Luo family’s experts didn’t dare to believe it.
Everyone knew that other than the family head, no one in the Luo family had reached the ninetieth step. On the other hand, quite a few people managed to reach the eighty-ninth step, but at the ninetieth step, the pressure would become a raging flood. Many people had tried to resist that flood only to be washed away, killed without a trace.
On the other hand, Luo Bing, Luo Xue, Luo Ning, Luo Qing, and those familiar with Long Chen didn’t feel too much shock. They were filled with anticipation instead.
They had personally seen how strong Long Chen was, so they truly felt him to be omnipotent. They all hoped for Long Chen to be able to reach the peak.
Just as the Luo family was shocked by Long Chen’s display, Long Chen faced an unprecedented crisis.
Standing on the ninetieth step, he felt the raging flood crashing upon him. His soul ached as if a grindstone was grinding away at it.
Moreover, the flood was actually capable of moving through his body. It was like millions of flies were grinding away pieces of him.
Now, Long Chen understood where the name of the Honing Heavenly Staircase came from. The first few steps tested a person’s aptitude. It was the later steps that were the true start of the honing.
Qi, blood, flesh, tendon, bone, soul, mind, will. Whether the part had form or was formless, it was being ground. It was an indescribable pain.
It was no wonder that only the family head had ever managed to climb the Honing Heavenly Staircase. Such pain was unendurable.
“There are still nine steps.”
Long Chen took a deep breath, clenched his teeth, and raised his foot to the next step.
