Whoosh!
Su Ping flew straight up, high in the sky. Oxygen became scarce and was gone in the blink of an eye, while the temperature dropped to below zero readings.
That would count as being in a place beyond the atmosphere if he were on the Blue Planet!
But that was the Realm of Deities. The nine deity rivers above him were just as brilliant as before; their sizes remained the same.
Fortunately, Su Ping no longer depended on oxygen after he returned to the Star State, which meant that he could thrive while in the void.
He would still be safe and sound even if he was in a cold -270 degree environment.
Not even places with absolute zero could freeze him after grasping his small worlds; he could resist the cold with the laws embedded in them. The harsh conditions couldn’t possibly hurt him, even if he set foot on the sun.
“Huh?”
Su Ping encountered a couple of strangers who were hunting a beast; the creature was about to succumb thanks to their joint efforts.
They also noticed Su Ping flying by, and were surprised to see the clothes he was wearing.
They’re all disciples of the Heaven Asking Church?
Su Ping also noticed their clothes; he didn’t expect to find fellow disciples hunting at such altitude. All of them appeared to be Star Lords.
“Which mountain are you from? You’re not even a Celestial Deity yet. What gave you the guts to come here alone? It’s very dangerous,” said one of the young men to Su Ping via telepathy.
Su Ping glanced at him, but didn’t reply. He kept on flying upwards.
The young man raised his eyebrows and snorted, leaving the matter alone.
“You’re not even a Celestial Deity yet, and you dare go farther up. You’re asking to be killed!
“Senior Brother He has already warned him. He can only blame himself if he dies in the end,”
Said the others. They quickly finished off the wounded beast, not considering the task a big deal.
Su Ping continued flying upwards for almost eighty thousand meters, then felt that the temperature had almost been reduced to absolute zero. He had to stave off the cold by releasing his small worlds.
He ran into another group of fellow disciples. Some were acting alone, meditating in the void; others were practicing sword or divine techniques, causing loud noises.
After briefly communicating with them, Su Ping finally learned that “above the skies” wasn’t just a description in the Realm of Deities; there were really nine skies.
Each sky covered a span of a hundred thousand meters.
Su Ping had just reached the second sky; the nine deity rivers were above the nine skies!
Normal cultivators in the Star State could only reach the first sky.
Star Lords moved about in the second and third skies. There were a lot of tough beasts up in the fourth sky; only great deities could explore it.
The sixth sky required the strength of a Deity King.
Is this what the ancient people said about ‘climbing the sky’? The nine skies are truly difficult! Su Ping thought.
He reached the third sky soon after, where the temperature had dropped to absolute zero; the oxygen was thin and everything was in complete stillness. There wasn’t even a bit of fog, because the water had been solidified.
It was like a world of stillness.
While protected by his small worlds, Su Ping ignored the freezing cold and the obstacles with laws as he pressed forward.
He saw a person cultivating in the third sky. The latter was surprised to see him there, as it was bizarre to see another disciple of the Heaven Asking Church reaching the third sky.
Su Ping showed no intent of greeting him, simply going further up.
Once he disappeared from that person’s sight, he went on for tens of thousands of meters more before he reached the fourth sky.
It was a world of stillness yet again, the only difference being the presence of chaotic laws in the void, making some areas extremely dangerous.
Su Ping was caught in those areas several times during his ascent, and had to break free by releasing his second small world.
It’s indeed difficult to explore the origin of deity aura.
Su Ping’s eyes glittered as his determination grew; he continued without hesitation.
Su Ping made it to the fifth sky, despite all the dangerous moments along the way.
The laws present were even more overpowering and chaotic. There were all kinds of unusual phenomena in the void, including raging flames, twisted vortices, frozen tornadoes, and shattered lightning bolts.
The views were unimaginably splendid, briefly unfolding like painting scrolls in the void.
Su Ping kept on moving while avoiding those laws. He resisted the void’s invisible pressure by making use of the power of three small worlds, and then entered the sixth sky.
Barely upon arrival he sensed the deepest coldness. It was not just absolute zero; the entire area was covered in the perfect law of frost.
Fire was raging inside Su Ping’s body, which drove away the cold. Most laws were unmoving in the sixth sky; he avoided the frozen laws and accidentally touched some of the flowing laws which had been hiding in deeper places.
All of them are perfect laws…
Su Ping was shocked when he felt the power of laws in that place; but then, his eyes glittered. That was a perfect cultivation spot, as he would have samplings to grasp all the perfect laws.
If in the end I can’t reach the deity rivers, it wouldn’t be bad if I returned to this place later on to cultivate, Su Ping thought. He was delighted at the discovery of such an unexpected cultivation holy land.
He didn’t stay to fight the flowing laws, choosing to break out.
However, although the flowing laws were perfect, they were much more powerful than according to Su Ping’s estimation.
They are also perfect laws, but ten times or even a hundred times more powerful than mine!
Su Ping felt shocked while he resisted the current area. His understanding of laws was renewed.
He soon found the reason for that: if laws could be compared to weapons, the power of laws would be equal to the hardness of the materials the weapons were made of. Even if the laws were all perfect, they were also being wielded by different entities.
He was performing laws with his own power as an individual, but the laws present contained the power of the whole area!
Su Ping struggled to resist for more than ten seconds and was then was torn apart and killed in the sixth sky—
Still, Su Ping’s body was quickly resurrected. Right after rebirth, he unleashed all his power with God’s Arrival, releasing three of his small worlds and freeing himself from the vortex of laws.
He simply continued his journey after breaking free.
The journey thus far was approximately 100,000 meters high; Su Ping died three times before finally reaching the seventh sky.
This is a place only Deity Kings would dare visit. Even the Ascendant State experts will likely get killed here. Su Ping thought as he observed the seventh sky. To his surprise, the nearby void was bright and cloudless; he could see the blue sky on the distant horizon.
No laws or anything else were at the moment frozen in the local void.
Su Ping found that the temperature of that place was behaving oddly; he was unable to tell whether it was cold or hot.
To be more precise—he couldn’t feel the temperature.
Or rather, even the extreme coldness or hotness could no longer be displayed; it was an area which exceeded their physical understanding.
There are no other perfect laws. Is it possible that even perfect laws would have trouble appearing at this height? Su Ping solemnly flew onward. Soon after, he noticed that a strange force was squeezing his body, as if he were swimming in the sea. However, he didn’t feel the coldness of the seawater; it was the sole sensation of being covered and squeezed.
Crack!
Su Ping felt that all his bones were cracking, as if about to give out.
The pressure alone was already insufferable; he had a feeling that would fall apart at any moment.
His face was unsightly, as the current difficulties foretold his inability to reach the deity rivers.
Even if he could resurrect again and again, it would be pointless to keep at it to die right after.
He took a deep breath, gritted his teeth and proceeded; it was too early to give up just yet.
Considering his bodily resilience, he could endure a dozen seconds or so, which was enough for him to sprint long distance.
Bang!
It came to pass—Su Ping finally exploded after flying for several thousand meters.
He quickly resurrected on the spot and rushed upward.
Flames surrounded him as he then turned into a young Golden Crow, with bloody feathers amidst the golden ones, as well as golden dragon scales on his neck, instead of plumage.
Su Ping’s body was no longer a pure Solar Bulwark avatar, but a mutated version with dragon and phoenix blood!
Roar!
Su Ping bellowed like a beast. Golden blood was squeezed out of his feathers, splashing in the void; he sprinted for several thousand meters to explode once again.
The resurrection card was pulled soon after.
Whoosh!
He continued to charge upwards, excruciating pain making him grit his teeth; there was nothing but determination in his golden eyes.
His sprinting and dying cycle continued, finally reaching the highest point of the seventh sky after repeated resurrections and a gravely wounded body. The eighth sky was right ahead of him.
What frightened Su Ping was that the eighth sky was absolutely dark, like the veil of the night.
He couldn’t see a single thing.
The deep blue he had seen in the seventh sky didn’t seem to be the dome; otherwise, it should have been black, considering the blockage of the eighth sky.
It wasn’t until he was a few kilometers away from the eighth sky when he finally saw its darkness, as the former skies had always been blue. Su Ping couldn’t explain such a phenomenon; there had to be a mysterious power behind that.
He naturally felt wary when moving toward the dark eighth sky, as it seemed like a realm of death where no living creature could make it through!
I’ve already come this far. There’s no reason to retreat!
Su Ping gritted his teeth and took a deep breath before entering the eighth sky.
Hardly had he stepped in when he felt his soul shiver. He had goosebumps all over his body, as if having just set foot in some sort of mixture made of blood and water. The strange feeling of coldness pierced his body, delving deep into his soul.
The next moment, Su Ping felt that his body was decaying and his strength was gone.
What kind of power is this?
Su Ping was quick and released his small worlds as an attempt to protect himself; however, the triple small worlds were swiftly corroded in the darkness. The illusory world was eaten up at a slower pace, managing to protect Su Ping for a couple of additional seconds.
Still, it was definitely not nearly enough.
“Huh?”
While Su Ping considered whether or not to give up—he happened to hear an exclamation of surprise higher up.
Then, he saw that the darkness before him was pushed away, and a circle of light approached. Inside the circle was an old man, white hair and beard, wearing a blue robe plagued with patches.
The old man was clearly astonished to see Su Ping there, and his surprise grew when he gauged the young man’s level. He asked in surprise, “A brat that’s not even a Celestial Deity yet?”
He found it unbelievable to see such a strange brat in the eighth sky!
Not just Celestial Deities, even Deity Kings who could make it all the way there would be considered geniuses.
The old man couldn’t help but ask, “Brat, how did you get here?”
Su Ping didn’t expect to meet someone else, either. Judging from the old man’s overall look, he was very likely in the Celestial State, if not stronger. Su Ping then asked, “Who are you? An elder of the Heaven Asking Church?”
“An elder? I’m the leader,” said the old man angrily.
He then looked at Su Ping’s clothes and raised his eyebrows. “You’re a disciple of the Heaven Asking Church? Odd. Why don’t I know about you? Brat, tell me, how did you come up here?”
“By flying, of course,” Su Ping replied. He had trouble finding words, not thinking that such an unremarkable, yet motley clad elder would be the boss of the Heaven Asking Church.
“Brat, watch your manners!” said the old man angrily; he would have flicked the back of Su Ping’s head if he weren’t too astonished at the moment.
Su Ping gritted his teeth, but was unable to persist; his body was already on the verge of collapse.
Noticing the young man’s agony, the old man pointed his finger, releasing a streak of golden light that enshrouded the latter, regardless of the disrespectful treatment.
Su Ping immediately felt that the power previously squeezing him to a pulp was gone, and that it was now warm and cozy. He looked at the old man and asked, “Why did you help me?”
“You’re a disciple of the Heaven Asking Church. I certainly cannot stand idle and watch you die.” The old man rolled his eyes, completely lacking the gravitas commonly found in leaders of major sects. He gave Su Ping another look and asked. “You would have died if I hadn’t helped you, brat. How did you get here when you’re this weak?”
“I forgive you for calling me brat because you saved my life. I have a name; it’s Su Ping,” said Su Ping, his turn then to be angry.
“Ha?”
The old man widened his eyes, as if the answer would have been completely unprecedented. “You forgive me? I can easily obliterate you with a single breath of air. You don’t believe me, eh? You wouldn’t even be able to be reborn.”
“No, I don’t believe you,” came Su Ping’s quick reply.
The old man choked angrily. He had never seen such a strange and fearless kid in his entire life. Is there really something wrong with his head?
“Never mind; I’m too lazy to punish you for your disrespectful attitude, you brat. If you’re a disciple of my Heaven Asking Church, what are you doing here?” asked the old man.
“I want to see the deity rivers above the nine skies,” said Su Ping, “What are you doing here?”
Veins protruded on the old man’s forehead. No one had ever acted as casually when addressing him in the past. He rolled his eyes. “Above the nine skies? You think you’re capable of going there? Which mountain are you studying in? I want to know who’s been guiding a stupid disciple.”
