After entering the Stairway to Heaven, Meixiu and the others found themselves transported to this empty room that somehow had a small pond resting in the center.
“W-Where are we? Where’s Yuan?!” Chu Liuxiang asked in a slightly panicked manner.
“Calm down, we’re currently in the spectators’ area.” Feng Yuxiang said.
“Since we’re not participating in the trial, we were transported somewhere where we cannot disturb the Young Master.”
“I see…”
Meixiu and Min Li looked around with a bewildered face, as they had never seen such scenery before.
Although they were inside a ‘room’, the walls were almost transparent, and the background was a starry sky with tiny lights flickering in the distance. The floor seemed to be made of a smooth material, almost like jade, and there was a pond in the middle of the room.
Xiao Hua didn’t say anything and approached the pond in the center of the room before sitting beside it and staring at it.
Feng Yuxiang also did the same thing.
“Come. We’ll be able to see the Young Master here.”
Everyone there sat around this pond a moment later, silently staring at the clear liquid.
A few minutes later, they could see an image appearing on the surface of the water.
“Look! It’s Yuan!” Chu Liuxiang exclaimed when she realized it was Yuan, and he just entered this arena.
“Looks like he’s about to start his first trial.” Feng Yuxiang smiled.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Stairway to Heaven, Yuan was waiting for his first trial to begin.
After waiting around for a few moments, he noticed the scenery changing from the void to a bustling city where people could be seen walking around.
The scenery looked so realistic to Yuan that he thought he’d been transported to a real city.
“For the first trial, you must find the city lord and kill him within 12 hours or you will fail the trial.” Tian’er’s voice resounded loudly in Yuan’s ears, but the people there didn’t react to her voice.
“Wait… You want me to kill someone?” Yuan frowned at this trial.
“Don’t worry, everyone and everything in this world is created purely from spiritual energy, just like Tian’er, so they’re not real.”
Yuan felt more relieved after hearing that.
“What about the rules? Are there any rules?” He then asked.
“There are no rules in this trial. You may accomplish your mission through any means.”
“I understand.”
“Then the trial shall begin.”
Ding!
<You have started your first trial in the Stairway to Heaven>
<You have 12 hours to finish the trial>
<Finish the trial in less than 6 hours to receive a reward>
‘Huh? I can obtain rewards in the Stairway to Heaven?’ Yuan wasn’t expecting to earn anything since he was doing it to ascend to the next realm, not earn treasures.
However, he didn’t complain about it and began his journey.
The first and most logical thing he did was to ask around for information.
“Excuse me, I am new here, and I have some business with the lord of this city. Can you tell me where I can find him?” Yuan asked an old lady who was the closest to him.
The old lady stared at him for a moment before pointing in a certain direction.
Yuan turned to look at where the old lady was pointing, and to his surprise, there was a majestic pagoda in that direction.
The pagoda was so tall that it pierced the clouds; it was unlike anything Yuan has seen before.
“Thank you.”
Yuan immediately made his way towards the pagoda.
However, not even a few minutes later, a sudden commotion occurred in the street, and it forced him to stop his movements.
“You bastard! How dare you sleep with my wife! I am going to fucking kill you!”
A strange man that he’d never seen before suddenly appeared in front of him and began threatening to kill him.
“What gibberish are you talking about? I didn’t—” Yuan frowned.
However, the strange man didn’t care about what Yuan had to say and drew his weapon.
“Die for me!”
The strange man released his cultivation base and began running at Yuan.
‘A peak Spirit Grandmaster?!’ Yuan immediately withdrew the Empyrean Overlord to defend against this strange man.
Bang!
Yuan could feel himself getting pushed back a few steps from the confrontation.
“W-Wait a moment! There must have been a misunderstanding! I didn’t sleep with your wife!” Yuan tried to calm the man down, but alas, his attempt only seemed to have intensified the man’s anger.
“Fuck you! I was there when it happened and saw you lying naked in bed with my wife! Die!”
The strange man continued his assault on Yuan.
‘This must be part of the trial! I thought I only had to fight the city lord! I underestimated the trial!’ Yuan eventually realized the situation and began fighting the man for real.
After exchanging a few blows, Yuan withdrew the Starry Abyss in its invisible form and used it to finish off the unsuspecting man.
The strange man collapsed after a hole appeared in his head, and the pedestrians there began freaking out as though they were real people.
Yuan ignored them and continued making his way towards the pagoda.
After Yuan left the scene, the strange man’s corpse scattered into countless glowing fragments before disappearing like smoke.
A few minutes later, even more people showed up to block his path.
“Halt, you murderer!”
Two people wearing guard uniforms showed up.
Yuan didn’t even bother to stop this time and just used the Starry Abyss to kill them before they realized what was happening.
This continued for an entire hour until Yuan finally reached the pagoda, and by then, he’d killed over 50 people at the peak Spirit Grandmaster realm.
Yuan stood before the pagoda’s golden doors, but he didn’t immediately go inside.
Instead, he sat down to recover his spiritual energy.
‘It’s already this bothersome when it’s only the first trial. I cannot imagine what the Stairway to Heaven has in store for me later…’ He sighed inwardly.