"Xiao Hua, surely, you're not suggesting the Young Master bring that girl to the Spirit Heaven through the Stairway to Heaven, right?" Feng Yuxiang asked her with a look of disbelief on her face.
Xiao Hua nodded and said, "Brother Yuan, there is one method that allows an individual— or a few to ascend to the next heaven without needing to pass the Stairway to Heaven."
"Really? Tell me about it!" Yuan quickly said.
"However, Xiao Hua must warn Brother Yuan that this method isn't recommended, and nobody does it for a good reason." Xiao Hua said.
And she continued, "A single person climbing the Stairway to Heaven can bring at most 9 people with him, and as long as this person passes all of the trials, all 9 people including the climber will be able to ascend to the Spirit Heaven."
"In other words, Brother Yuan can bring 9 people with him to the Spirit Heaven. However, every single person you bring will tremendously increase the difficulty of your trials, making the already seemingly impossible challenge even harder, and the more people you bring, the harder it will only become, hence why nobody uses this method. You're essentially doing the trials for them."
"Huh? Does this mean I am already bringing 3 people with me because I obviously cannot leave you three in the Lower Heaven while I ascend myself?" Yuan then asked.
Xiao Hua nodded, "Yes and no. Xiao Hua and the phoenix came from the upper heavens, so we can actually ascend through the Stairway to Heaven without doing any trials. But we're staying down here due to our own reasons."
"What about Yingying? She was born in the Mystic Realm that is in the Lower Heaven."
"Miss snake will have to pass the trials in order to ascend to the next heaven since she was born in the Lower Heaven, but because she is Brother Yuan's servant that's bound by a heavenly contract, she will not increase the difficulty of your trials as much as an ordinary person who isn't your servant would, and she won't take up a slot, so you can still bring nine other people with you including us." Xiao Hua explained to him.
"I see… Indeed, I can use this method to bring Disciple Min to the Spirit Heaven, allowing her to leave her family since she will no longer have to rely on them to ascend. Furthermore, I can even bring Yu Rou and Meixiu with me…" Yuan mumbled as he turned to look at Meixiu.
Of course, he wouldn't leave them behind while he personally ascends.
Everyone there turned to look at Meixiu.
Feng Yuxiang then spoke, "While I understand it if the Young Master wants to support Meixiu and Yu Rou, I don't think I like the idea of bringing Min Li because a single person will already increase the difficulty of your trials, much less three… And what if you decide to help another person in the future? That's even more of a burden on you, Young Master!"
"I think I will be fine even if I support three people. What's the worst that can happen? If I fail the trials, can't I just take it again?" Yuan asked.
"Well… You can… But you can only challenge the Stairway to Heaven once every four years if you fail. And wasting four whole years in the Lower Heaven when you can be improving your cultivation base in a place with better resources… It's truly a waste of time and talent, especially in your case, Young Master. In my opinion, four years of your time is worth as much as 40,000 years to others if not even more…" Feng Yuxiang said.
"Xiao Hua agrees with the phoenix. Brother Yuan's time and talent are incredibly precious. You cannot afford to waste four years down here. It hasn't even been half a year since you started cultivating and you're already a Spirit Grandmaster. Xiao Hua cannot even imagine what you'll become in four years if you continue to grow…"
Lan Yingying and Feng Yuxiang turned to look at Xiao Hua.
It hasn't been half a year since Yuan started cultivating? How is that even remotely possible? Maybe it might be possible in the upper heavens where the spiritual energy is much better, but in the Lower Heavens, such abnormal growth shouldn't be possible.
"Anyways, if I fail, then it is what it is. That means I'm not good enough and I wasn't destined to ascend. It's only four years of my life. However, if Disciple Min fails, her entire life might be destroyed." Yuan said.
Then he realized something.
"Oh, right. What if I ascend to Spirit Heaven alone and then come down to the Lower Heaven like Senior Nie, bringing people with me to the Spirit Heaven that way?" Yuan asked.
"That might not work…" Xiao Hua shook her head.
"Why not?"
"In order to come down to the Lower Heaven— or descending from any heaven, one must acquire the permission to do so by the lord of that heaven, and that is not something you can easily obtain, especially if you just enter the Spirit Heaven." Feng Yuxiang said to him.
"Lord of each heaven? Like a ruler?"
Xiao Hua nodded, "In each heaven— besides the Lower Heaven, there is a true ruler who oversees the entire world. Without his or her permission, you will not be able to descend, and even if you obtain permission, you must have enough resources to come down."
Feng Yuxiang then continued, "Think of it this way, Young Master. That Spirit King who came down from the Spirit Heaven needed help from all Seven Spirit Academies to bring three people with him to the Spirit Heaven. You can only imagine the enormous amount of resources required to bring even a single person, much less three."
"So it's easier to bring them up through the first method, huh? Okay. I have decided. I will bring them up with me through the Stairway to Heaven!" Yuan spoke in a resolute voice.