Golden light was glittering on the score monument and rearranged the projections in a new order as the female Star Lord spoke.
Su Ping’s projection was still at the top, and the number next to it was… 58!
All the Star Lords were lost for words.
From the 42nd floor to the 58th… He had crossed sixteen floors in only ten minutes!
He was still soaring at a high speed after passing the 40th floor. That was horrifying!
The young man carrying a wooden sword was still in second; he had managed to reach the 48th floor.
He was only two floors away from the 50th; everyone believed that he would go beyond the 50th floor before the next scoring update, which would only be the fourth refresh; that meant that only forty minutes would have passed!
Very few contestants had ever reached the 50th floor in an hour throughout the history of the Illusionary God Monument Mysterious Realm!
Dragon Emperor was right behind the wooden sword guy; his points remained in third place. He was merely on the 44th floor, four floors below the young man with a wooden sword.
Despite that, the point gap between them wasn’t large; he could still catch up with the young man. After all, the dragon-class monument’s point coefficient was higher!
Further behind, there was Oasis Dragon King, Holy King, the Thousand Leaves Holy Lady, Queen of the Seas, Sword Maniac, and the rest.
“He’s ten floors higher than the one in second place!”
“He’s also tackling the all-class monument, which is the most challenging of all!”
“His point coefficient is almost twice that of the second place!”
“Will he be able to rise to the 90th floor eventually?”
“…”
All the Star Lords focused their eyes on the man at the top of the rank after glancing across all the rankings; nobody had paid much attention to Su Ping when he fought on the island, except for the Star Lord from the Dragon Tomb Academy.
However, all of them could tell that the young man was definitely a new rising star that would glow and spread his name far and wide after the Universe Geniuses’ Contest!
“They aren’t on the same level, at all. The Sword God’s heir is already unbelievable enough, and still he’s being eclipsed!”
“He will definitely go beyond the 60th floor by the next refresh!”
“All the others have started to slow down. After all, their mental projection inside the monument should be close to exhausted after having passed so many floors.”
“It seems that the monuments are functioning properly…”
The ranking refresh confirmed what the Star Lord said; after all, it couldn’t have erred twice in a row.
…
Time flew.
On the 65th floor inside the monument—Su Ping looked at the five beasts in front of him, which were a dragon, a demon, two elemental creatures, and one subgod.
He concluded that it was a subgod because he had seen many of them in the Demigod Burial.
The subgods carried some of the gods’ physical features, but they also had human or other animal parts…
That indicated the gods’ considerable open mindedness.
The higher I go, the weirder the enemies are. Even a subgod has appeared… Will there be real gods? This guy is rather intelligent and good at fighting.
Su Ping observed them while avoiding their attacks.
He also began to feel weary as he sprinted consecutively. He had no time to replenish his astral power; new enemies and battles would come instantly after clearing a round. There was no time for rest.
There was also the fact that there was no astral power to absorb in the environment, either.
This meant that the exhaustion was continuous; he would become weaker and weaker, while his enemies would become stronger and stronger!
He couldn’t aspire to a complete recovery unless he left the monument and reentered it.
I have to use my astral power wisely, or I might not be able to reach the end; there’s no telling how strong the upcoming enemies will be. They can’t be Star Lords, can they?
Su Ping’s enemies already knew a couple of laws when he reached the 65th floor; they also had an advanced Star State combat ability!
Different species would appear, which were adept at assorted techniques; some were good swordsmen, some were great assassins, and others had sturdy bodies.
The higher he went, the trickier the enemies were. They were also working in teams and protected each other; it was hard to deal with them.
Su Ping could have suffered some setbacks, were it not for his encounters with all kinds of strange enemies in the cultivation sites.
The other monuments would show the same enemies, except that they would become stronger and have new abilities. Rising to higher floors was possible as long as the participants had enough expertise on that specific path.
Whoosh!
Su Ping’s train of thought was interrupted when he suddenly saw a weakness, so he quickly approached the subgod. He launched a needle of divine power mixed with multiple laws, which went through the subgod’s shield and then stabbed its shoulder. It exploded.
The subgod was instantly killed. With their commander gone, Su Ping quickly flew towards the two elemental beasts and executed them.
Soon, the 65th floor was cleared; Su Ping found himself in the depths of the sea under great pressure.
Su Ping nearly drowned as he was caught unaware; fortunately, he held his breath in time. He unconsciously tried to push the seawater away with astral power, but then decided to resist the pressure with his body alone, considering the astral power expenditure.
The astral power could be used up, but his body could withstand the pressure indefinitely.
A few behemoths then appeared in the distance like a few mountains; their limbs became more and more terrifying as they made their approach…
…
The seventh ranking refresh!
The seven Star Lords gathered in front of the monument’s rank display and found Su Ping at the top just like before. He was so ahead of the second spot that no one would catch up even if he stayed unmoving for several rounds.
“He’s on the 81st floor…”
“He’s reached the 80th floor in only seventy minutes. He spent less than a minute on every floor!”
“His speed is scary when he gets serious. Does he have a peak Star State combat ability?”
“He’s only in the Fate State, yet his combat ability is on par with a peak Star State warrior?”
“As far as I recall, even the little genius girl from Amir wasn’t as good as him.”
“She was ahead of all the others that year, but her advantage wasn’t as obvious. After all, a genius also emerged from the Dragon Tomb Academy that year.”
“Sword God’s heir is merely on the 65th floor. Did I just say ‘merely’?”
“Dragon Emperor has just reached the 60th floor…”
“Taking that monster out of the picture, there are certainly plenty of geniuses this year. Seven of them have surpassed the 50th floor! The rest are weaker; the last one has only made it to the 32nd floor. What’s he doing here?”
The Star Lords smiled bitterly; all the other geniuses seemed “ordinary” when compared to Su Ping, the top ranker.
If it were a different occasion, the Sword God’s heir would have shocked everyone by rising to the 65th floor, but it was nothing remarkable when the person above him was so much better.
One of the monuments glittered at that moment, and a person stepped out.
He was a young man from the Hugh Mia Academy. He shook his head with a pale face, and didn’t come around until a long time passed. He saw no one other than the seven Star Lords when he finally raised his head and looked around.
That meant that he was the first quitter.
The young man wore a bitter smile with a tinge of embarrassment, then flew to the score monument, hoping to see his ranking.
I hope I’m not the last, he prayed.
Another monument glittered just as he was flying over, and then a second person showed up.
The young man’s eyes glittered; he had quit only a bit earlier than the last guy; it wasn’t too embarrassing.
He would have felt tremendously awkward, enough to think about killing himself if he would have had to wait for an hour with the seven Star Lords before anyone else came out.
Very soon, more and more people returned from the monuments.
They looked around and were happy to find that they weren’t alone. Still, they were also angry when they realized that nobody from those on the hilltop had quit yet.
They quickly gathered in front of the score monument.
Su Ping—who ranked first on the monument—was instantly seen.
All of them gasped and exclaimed uncontrollably after they saw the number of his points and the floors he had covered.
“How is it possible?”
“81? Are my eyes deceiving me? Or should I read it from right to left?”
“I only climbed 41 floors, and that guy is on the 81st?”
“How is it possible? Mr. Linghu from my academy is only in second place?”
“Dragon Emperor ranks third? That’s impossible!”
“All of this has to be rigged!”
All the students were shocked; they saw the outcome as unacceptable. None of the top experts from their respective academies—people who had left a deep impression on them—had secured the top of the rank.
Instead, Su Ping was at the top; he had won with the help of his pet earlier.
Even more horrifyingly, he was challenging the all-class monument, and had already reached the 81st floor. It was unreasonable!
Even the Sword God’s heir who challenged the sword-class monument had only reached the 65th floor. It was as difficult to reach the 81st floor of the all-class monument as to reach the 90th floor of the sword-class monument!
Didn’t that mean that the guy was at least 25 floors stronger than the Sword God’s heir?
The Star Lords remained calm and vaguely disdainful upon hearing the students’ exclamations, as if they were laughing at the students’ ignorance.
Exclamations were bursting out every now and then as more and more students were exiting the monuments.
Soon after, the rank was refreshed for the eighth time, and Su Ping was still at the top; he had already reached the 88th floor!
The 90th floor was near at hand. Even the seven Star Lords changed their expressions at that point!
That floor was a threshold; all those who passed the 90th floor were geniuses among geniuses, leaving their name in the history of the Illusionary God Monument Mysterious Realm!
“Taking his speed into account, it’s almost certain that he’ll climb a place beyond the 90th floor!”
“Besides, he has been there the whole time; never has he come out!”
“His storage is terrifying.”
“He definitely has the combat ability at the peak of the Star State!”
All the seven Star States looked solemn; such a genius would probably become even more invincible if he advanced to the Star State!
The students were silent at the moment.
Someone had previously thought that the rank had gone wrong, but the refresh slapped them in the face.
The young man carrying a wooden sword had passed the 70th floor at that moment, which would have been a massive accomplishment in other years, but it seemed unremarkable when compared to the number 88…
Then, the rank was refreshed for the eighth time.
As expected, Su Ping had indeed arrived at the 90th floor!
The young man who carried a wooden sword then reached the 73rd floor. Climbing three floors in ten minutes was actually good progress.
The seven Star Lords remained silent; they would look at the ranking monument occasion, wondering when the young man would decide to come out.
Time flew.
The rank was refreshed every ten minutes.
Su Ping’s position would rise higher after every refreshment.
His speed dropped significantly after the 90th floor; he then climbed one floor after each refreshment
Even so, the people on the outside were still shocked. After all, the 90th floor was already unimaginably difficult. It remained unknown whether or not they could hold on for ten minutes in there, not to mention defeating the enemies!
The young man who carried a wooden sword, Dragon Emperor and the other top rankers also slowed down. They rose by one floor every time Su Ping did.
All the students from the five academies became silent when they saw the comparison.
Su Ping was rising one floor at a time in the nineties, whereas the others felt a similar difficulty when facing the seventies.
Everybody knew about the devastating twenty-floor gap!
Suddenly, one of the monuments glittered.
The tall and strong Dragon Devil appeared. He seemed exhausted; a recovery wasn’t seen until he noticed that many people had gathered in front of the score monument.
Goddess of Light emerged from a monument nearby as soon after he came out.
She gave a glimpse at Dragon Devil and snorted coldly; she then flew straight towards the score monument.
They approached the monument and instantly saw the rankings. Their eyes were immediately peeled open while showing disbelief.
…
On the 78th floor, in the sword-class monument—
A demon beast with sickle-like arms was blinking. There was also a white-haired old man who held a long sword, but the man had an eagle face. He was a beast man!
His claw waved the sword, as he launched various auras.
A young man before him was moving quickly; it was exactly the young man who carried a wooden sword.
The wooden sword on his back was gone, though; he was holding a glittering golden sword that radiated divine power and a fearsome aura!
The young man was heavily wounded, his casual smiles long gone. His eyes were trained on the white-haired swordsman as he performed extraordinary sword techniques.
Bang!
The white-haired swordsman moved unpredictably, just like a ghost. He and the sickle-armed creature were forcing the young man to retreat.
Bang!
The white-haired swordsman suddenly spun his sword and launched the most dazzling sword aura, which compressed all his energy and pushed the young man.
The latter narrowed his eyes and quickly counterattacked. But the next moment, his body and sword were overwhelmed.
His consciousness’ connection was lost.
The young man suddenly woke up; he felt he had been dreaming. He was at the moment in the void found within the monument.
He could still remember the spectacular attack the enemy launched at him; it was absolutely domineering.
Unfortunately, I had already used up too much of my strength… The young man looked at his arm with regret; spectacular as the attack might have been, it wasn’t outside his means, but he had simply felt too exhausted to defend himself.
He thought for a moment and then put on a smile. 78 floors. That’s not bad…
He had been completely devoted to the battle, so he hadn’t been paying much attention to the floor number. He was passionate about sword techniques; he decided to challenge that monument in order to improve his swordsmanship. He had no time to care about anything else.
Fame and fortune were secondary. Only his sword was eternal!