Golden holy radiance flowed down from the sky, like nectar, pouring into the bodies of every cultivator.
On the entire holy platform of the sixty steps, only Xu Mu stood to receive the baptism. Everyone else sat with their eyes closed and their breaths held, afraid of missing even a trace of the holy radiance.
A moment later, the holy radiance baptism concluded.
All the ability users felt incredibly refreshed. Some even broke through their realms, while many who didn't break through felt their realms loosening.
"I'm only a step away from breaking through to the third stage."
Zhou Jie's complexion recovered. He said to himself in his heart, then immediately stood up, preparing to ascend the holy ladder to the higher holy platforms.
At this point, the rankings of this round were no longer that important. The most crucial thing was the holy radiance baptism. As long as they could climb to the higher holy platforms to receive the baptism, they could easily widen the gap with other geniuses.
Conversely, it was also true.
"Let's get going too. We can't be left behind."
From below, Xu Mu looked at Nangong Huai Tian and said with a slight smile. Nangong Huai Tian glanced at Xu Mu, first thanked him softly, then hesitated and said,
"If, I mean if, I encounter danger again, you don't have to come to my aid."
"This holy radiance baptism is too important, and I don't want to implicate you."
Xu Mu was slightly stunned, then smiled and said, "Alright, you can rest assured. I know what I'm doing and won't delay anything."
Ji Xuansu also stood up and said, "Miss Nangong, please rest assured. Although we are by your side, we are not the kind of petty people who disregard the honor of our families and sects for personal gain. The academy is waiting for me to win the championship and celebrate, so it absolutely won't be affected."
"Okay, let's go up together then. Zuo Mingqiu and the others have already gone far." Nangong Huai Tian nodded and said. At this moment, the final battle of this round had already begun. Zuo Mingqiu took the lead, unleashing his strongest abilities, with the Bagua phenomena revolving around him. In an instant, he reached the sixty-fifth holy step.
"Let's go."
Xu Mu smiled slightly, and the three stepped out simultaneously.
Boom!
Despite the strong winds and fierce thunderstorms, the three of them immediately steadied themselves without the slightest waver.
At this point, everyone's state had recovered to its peak, and even improved further. The sixty-first step posed no challenge whatsoever.
Next, the three accelerated their pace. Xu Mu deliberately slowed down, maintaining a half-step distance behind Nangong Huai Tian.
Ji Xuansu held the scripture in his hands. Countless obscure characters floated out from it, forming a vast and righteous aura in the air. His ascent speed was like walking on flat ground, and he reached the seventy holy platform in an instant, following behind Chen Chang Kong and Zuo Mingqiu.
Xu Mu, standing beside them, couldn't help but click his tongue and say, "This kid is truly hiding his strength."
On the sixty-seventh step, Xu Mu and Nangong Huai Tian stood side by side. Nangong Huai Tian looked at Ji Xuansu's departing back with a hint of a strange expression in her eyes.
"There's nothing strange about it. He is Ji Xuansu, a disciple of the Grand Preceptor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the most learned young man in the Hundred Tribes Land. His true combat power might not even be suppressed by Zhou Jie."
Nangong's voice was calm and ethereal. Xu Mu raised his eyebrows, surprised, and said, "With Zhou Jie's strength, he's likely to be ranked in the top five this year. If Ji Xuansu can suppress him, doesn't that mean he has a chance to win the championship?"
Nangong Huai Tian nodded and said softly, "It's not impossible."
"But everyone who can reach this point undoubtedly has a hope of winning the championship, don't you think?"
As Nangong Huai Tian spoke, she turned to look at Xu Mu, her beautiful eyes narrowing slightly, like a curious and dangerous kitten.
Xu Mu didn't understand her meaning and thought Nangong was boasting about herself. He immediately scratched his head and said, "Naturally. The ranking order on the Holy Ladder doesn't fully reflect the contestants' strength. In the final battle, it's still uncertain who will win the championship. However, I am optimistic about you, Saintess."
Looking at Xu Mu's smiling face, Nangong silently turned her head back. She condensed inscription energy between her hands, and a cyan-green ability flowed around her, resisting the powerful forces coming from all directions.
Bang!
Amidst the powerful winds and pressure, Xu Mu calmly followed behind Nangong Huai Tian.
In this way, everyone pressed forward. The seventy steps did not stop them, and the eighty holy platform was also reached early by Zuo Mingqiu and others. At this time, there was still half the time until the next holy radiance baptism.
On the holy platform, Zuo Mingqiu frowned slightly as he looked at Chen Chang Kong and others chasing closely below. Then he turned his head and stepped onto the eighty-first step.
"Zuo Mingqiu didn't stop. He's going up again!"
Outside, countless clan powerhouses watched everything inside. The third round of the competition was nearing its end at this stage. All the geniuses were no longer holding back their strength, going all out. Everyone dared not relax, fearing they would miss even the slightest detail.
Zuo Mingqiu's step caused a great stir and discussion.
"Although he is a junior from Tianshi Mountain, known as the First Lord of the Nine Heavens, is it a bit too reckless to go further up at this time?"
Among the countless races, an old man looked at Zuo Mingqiu's back and questioned, because although the latter had displayed unparalleled strength and had been in the leading position since the start of the competition, everyone knew that the holy ladder beyond the eightieth step was on a completely different level of difficulty than before, even to the point of being as difficult as reaching the heavens!
"Yes, although he can reach the eightieth step from the sixtieth holy platform in the time it takes for one incense stick to burn, he may not be able to reach the ninetieth in the next incense stick's time. If it were another half an hour, it would be understandable."
In the crowd, another old man spoke. People recognized him as a very senior cultivator in the Hundred Tribes Land.
His judgment was accurate. As Zuo Mingqiu stepped onto the eighty-first step, his body trembled significantly, and it took him considerable time to barely stand firm, a stark contrast to his previous effortless ascent.
"Zuo Mingqiu doing this is perfectly fine," said a cold and majestic Taoist nun from the white clouds seating. "Beyond the eightieth step, it's the true test. Every step requires long preparation, so if contestants want to reach higher, they must keep moving forward without stopping, rather than wasting time on the holy platform to recover their state!"
Everyone's expression changed, and then they understood the nun's meaning.
This year's Holy Ladder assessment was different from previous ones. Although holy radiance baptism was added to help contestants recover their state, the time was also shortened to only three hours, which was very insufficient. In previous years, three hours was generally enough time to ascend ten steps, whereas now, three hours was the total time.
Given such a short time, if the participating contestants still stopped to waste time for the holy radiance baptism on the holy platform, they would not be able to reach higher levels in the end. Even if they had the strength, they wouldn't be able to utilize it due to lack of time.
However, other than the title of first place in this round, were there any additional benefits to reaching higher?
"I understand now. Zuo Mingqiu wants to take advantage of the time everyone is stopping at the eightieth holy platform to widen the gap. Even if he doesn't receive the holy radiance baptism in this round, as long as he enjoys a holy radiance baptism alone at a higher level before the competition ends, he will make up for all his losses!"
A young genius who had been eliminated exclaimed from outside.
"Not just make up for it. At this point, if he were allowed to enjoy the holy radiance of a holy platform alone, it would likely break through his realm, making a breakthrough to the third stage almost certain." The elder of his clan also nodded.
On the other hand, hearing this, some people in the crowd retorted:
"But it seems impossible, because the holy platforms above him are only the ninetieth and hundredth levels in total. At the Ten Thousand Races Alliance, apart from Ji Chang and Nangong in the past, no one has ever reached the hundredth level. And if it's the ninetieth step, after receiving the holy radiance baptism, several of the remaining geniuses should be able to reach it. Zuo Mingqiu won't be able to receive the holy radiance baptism alone unless he can stop everyone below."
Everyone in the crowd agreed, because it was indeed the case. Although Zuo Mingqiu was ahead of others, it was still unrealistic to pull away by an entire holy platform.
As for stopping others, it was even more unrealistic, because the number of steps ascended on this holy ladder did not represent the final battle strength. Zuo Mingqiu had not revealed any combat power so far. Although he was a genius from Tianshi Mountain's Taoist sect, whether his true strength could match Zhou Jie or Chen Chang Kong was still unknown.
The Taoist nun listened to the discussion with a calm expression and did not speak.
She looked at Zuo Mingqiu's struggling figure climbing upwards, a faint smile appearing at the corner of her lips.
A hundred levels, impossible?
"Not necessarily," the middle-aged, alluring Taoist nun murmured with a smile, standing on a cloud.
Although Tianshi Mountain was the ancestral land of the Taoist sect, its influence was only considered first-class, not top-tier. However, since Zuo Mingqiu's appearance, Tianshi Mountain's importance in the entire cultivation world had been growing, even subtly surpassing the Hundred Tribes, because Zuo Mingqiu was known as the First Lord of the Nine Heavens.
Nine Heavens, meaning the entire world. And this title of first in the world was not bestowed by Zuo Mingqiu himself or Tianshi Mountain, but was unanimously acknowledged by all the geniuses who had fought him.
As invincible as the Holy Son of the Nangong clan was in his time, Zuo Mingqiu's strength was that strong. They even felt he was slightly superior, but no one had ever forced Zuo Mingqiu to go all out, nor had he revealed too much of his strength in front of outsiders. Every time he fought against geniuses, he won with ease.
Mu Qing, the Taoist nun from Tianshi Mountain, thought of these things and then suddenly saw a familiar face in the crowd, the Wine Immortal of Baiyun Daoist Temple.
Mu Qing's eyes narrowed, and she turned her head with some concern to ask the old Taoist beside her, "The one from Baiyun Daoist Temple seems to have taken a disciple. Did he come this year?"
The old Taoist nodded and said, "He came, but we don't know which one it is among them."
Mu Qing shifted her gaze back to the holy ladder, searching for suspicious targets up and down. Finally, she focused on Xu Mu and said, "This one named Mu Xu, he summoned a heavenly lightning before. That seems to be the Five Thunders True Method."
"And in the second round, when he fought against Zhou Jie, he was extremely proficient in using the Bagua technique, and seemed to be able to change positions. He is very likely the legacy secret technique of a deceased immortal master from Baiyun Daoist Temple, so could it be him?"
The old Taoist also stared at Xu Mu's back for a long time, his five fingers constantly calculating something. After a long while, his eyes widened in surprise, then slowly returned to their calm, dark gray state.
Mu Qing asked anxiously, "Master, how is it? Is it him? If so, will it affect Little Zuo's championship?"
"No matter who it is, we should have confidence in Little Zuo winning the championship. Does he have to win just because this kid is the disciple of Baiyun Daoist Temple's Human King?" the old Taoist snorted coldly and reprimanded. The Taoist nun immediately lowered her head.
"Disciple admits her mistake."
"Hmm." The old Taoist slowly took a breath, then silently turned his head, his gaze fixed on Xu Mu again.
This time, a deep, ancient tremor slowly appeared in his eyes, which were as profound as a deep pool.
He was the Domain Lord in Tianshi Mountain who had gone furthest in the art of divination, even having a chance to awaken a Dharma Idol through it and become a half-step Human King, second only to the one from Baiyun Daoist Temple.
But why couldn't he calculate who Xu Mu was?
...