"Buzz"—
Long Chen stepped onto the first staircase. Countless runes appeared on the entire staircase, like lamps lit up, extending all the way to the sky.
As soon as Long Chen stepped onto the steps, he immediately felt an invisible force pressing down on him. He curled his lips. He had climbed the Nether Heaven Staircase back then, and now he was about to climb the Sharpening Heaven Staircase again.
Long Chen walked forward, the steps were enormous, covering several zhang with each step. Just as Long Chen had predicted, the further he advanced, the greater the pressure.
But for Long Chen, this was nothing. He kept moving forward at a specific pace, and only after climbing thirty steps did he finally feel the pressure.
However, the pressure wasn't too great. When he reached the fortieth level, Long Chen finally felt an invisible force beginning to suppress his will.
Willpower is the foundation of the Dao heart. This should be the place where the Luo family disciples temper their will. Long Chen couldn't help but smile. He had emerged from countless adversities, fought his way to the Immortal Realm amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and no one could shake his will—not even heaven.
When Long Chen stepped onto the fiftieth step of the Blade Sharpening Staircase, he felt the surrounding space begin to distort, a tremendous pressure pressing down on him, as if suddenly carrying a mountain on his back.
Luo Changwu had said that before the forty-ninth step of the Sharpening Blade Heavenly Staircase, it was all for the Four Extremes Realm disciples to take assessments, while the fiftieth step was for Divine Lord Realm experts.
Stepping onto the fiftieth step of the heavenly ladder, Long Chen clearly felt a different sensation. The pressure surged more than tenfold in an instant. At this moment, it was not only a suppression of willpower but also a test of his physical body.
As Long Chen pressed forward, the pressure grew increasingly terrifying, but he felt little at all. For most Divine Lord-level experts, this kind of power was already exhausting for their bodies, but for Long Chen, it posed no real threat.
At the sixtieth level, the pressure surged again. At the seventh level, the essence blood within Long Chen's body began to flow rapidly and involuntarily, instinctively activating to resist the external pressure.
Seventy rank—for ordinary Divine Lord realm experts, that power would crush them, far beyond what most Divine Lord experts could endure.
Long Chen reached the seventy-ninth step and felt a powerful pulling force, as if an invisible giant hand was about to crush him.
This step was Luo Changwu's ultimate step. Long Chen couldn't help but shake his head. His uncle suffered because his physical body wasn't strong; otherwise, with his willpower, he could definitely keep moving forward.
"Buzz"
Long Chen stepped onto the eightieth step. His body instinctively bent, and he felt the space above his head being sealed, unable to stand upright.
"Hmph!"
Long Chen snorted coldly, his body suddenly thrusting forward. The steps beneath his feet cracked loudly, and runes shattered. Long Chen felt as if he were carrying a star, and his body ached slightly.
In fact, Long Chen didn't need to do this at all. As long as he hunched over, he wouldn't be under such pressure.
But Long Chen's pride wouldn't allow him to bow his head. Lowering his head meant giving in, being helpless, or helpless—a kind of defeat. Long Chen couldn't accept such defeat, especially on the Sharpening Ladder, where someone was watching him.
Moreover, Long Chen had a feeling that if he kept his head down, he wouldn't be able to reach the summit. One concession might mean giving up every time—would he have to climb up later?
Long Chen jumped onto the eighty-first step, the pressure increasing even more. Sure enough, the further he went, the more terrifying the pressure became.
When Long Chen reached the eighty-fifth step, the Starfire within him ignited automatically. When he reached the ninetyth step, he immediately felt an endless force squeezing in, as if stepping into a spatial turbulence, his body about to be torn apart.
"Rumble rumble... Golden
dragon scales appeared all over Long Chen's body. A dragon's roar echoed through heaven and earth. His violent blood energy formed a golden pillar of light that shot straight into the sky, piercing through the clouds in all directions and changing the color of heaven and earth.
The moment the dragon's roar rang out, the entire Luo Clan ground trembled violently. Qin Feng, Bai Xiaole, and Xu Zixiong were accompanied by the Luo family's strong members, sipping fragrant tea together. Suddenly, they heard the dragon's roar, and in the distance, a golden pillar of light shot into the sky. Startled, Qin Feng's expression changed.
"Don't panic. Long Chen is attacking the Blade Sharpening Ladder and will definitely go all out." Luo Changwu signaled Qin Feng to rest assured. No one would harm Long Chen; Long Chen was not fighting with anyone.
In fact, after Luo Changwu returned, he accompanied Qin Feng and the others, chatting but keeping his mind focused on the progress of the Knife Sharpening Ladder.
"This position... the Luo clan experts looked at the height, their faces filled with shock.
"That's right, Long Chen has stepped onto the ninetieth step of the Blade Sharpening Staircase." Luo Changwu said, and Luo Changwu was also utterly shocked. He hadn't expected Long Chen to walk so quickly.
You have to understand, the faster you walk on the Blade Sharpening Ladder, the greater the pressure behind you. Especially the ninth step behind, which is the true ladder of sharpening knives. Luo Changwu was both shocked and worried.
"Ninety rank? That strong?" A powerful member of the Luo clan said in disbelief.
Everyone knew that, aside from the clan leader, no one in the Luo Clan had ever reached the 90th or 89th steps. Many had climbed to the 90th or 89th steps, but once they reached the 90th level, they would be swept down by a terrifying torrent and couldn't hold on. Some tried to break through, only to be torn apart by the torrent, leaving no bones behind.
In contrast, Luo Bing, Luo Xue, Luo Ning, and Luo Qing, who were familiar with Long Chen, were not much shocked but rather filled with anticipation.
They had witnessed Long Chen's strength firsthand. They believed he was an omnipotent being, hoping he could be like the clan leader and pass the Blade Sharpening Ladder.
Just as the entire Luo Clan was shocked by Long Chen, he too encountered an unprecedented crisis.
He was standing on the ninetieth step, but the roaring torrent kept crashing against him, and at the same time, his soul was in sharp pain, like a massive millstone grinding against his soul.
At the same time, the torrent could actually pass through his body, wildly washing over him, as if billions of files were cutting back and forth.
Long Chen finally understood the origin of the name 'Knife Sharpening Ladder.' The steps ahead test a person's qualifications, while the steps behind are where the real sharpening of the knife begins.
Qi, blood, flesh, tendons, bones, soul, spirit, will—all the powers a person possesses, whether tangible or intangible, are rubbing against each other. It is an unbearable pain, and Long Chen finally witnessed the pain of the Sharpening Ladder.
No wonder Luo Changwu said that over countless years on the Sharpening Blade Heavenly Staircase, only the clan leader had reached the ninety-nine steps alone. Such terrifying power was truly astonishing.
"There's still the ninth tier."
Long Chen took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and took a step forward, heading straight for the next step.