Chapter 367: Chapter 288: Progress Together
Just as Su Yuan turned to look, the Holy Light in front of him vibrated violently. Seth finally stepped onto the 999th step just before his strength was exhausted.
“Phew, that was close. Almost didn’t make it up!” Seth breathed a heavy sigh of relief, a trace of luck flashing in his eyes.
Earlier, he had pushed himself hard to compete with Su Yuan, nearly halting on the 998th step and failing to advance!
Now, thinking back, Seth realized he had been somewhat irrational. This was an opportunity to directly break through to Shining Star, how could he afford to be so careless?
Looking at Su Yuan in front of him, Seth shook his head and smiled: “Su Yuan, you’re really powerful. I’ve lost this time.”
Su Yuan replied casually: “Climbing the Heavenly Ladder is the same, there’s no winner or loser.”
Seth, however, shook his head. His realm was higher, he had moved ahead first by several steps, and yet he was still overtaken by Su Yuan. A loss was a loss.
At this moment, a large amount of deep blue energy gathered towards Seth.
Seth took a deep breath and immediately calmed his mind to accept this extremely rich Transcendence Power.
The deep blue energy twined around Seth, flickering unceasingly, while the Star Power inside Seth’s body surged violently like a tumultuous sea…
After a while, all the Transcendence Power had completely vanished.
Seth closed his eyes, remaining motionless, his aura completely converged. Only occasionally would pure white Holy Light emerge from his body.
Clearly, Seth had realized something and had reached a very critical moment.
“Could he really break through to Shining Star?”
Su Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly, but given the high degree of Star Power convergence in his opponent, nothing could be discerned at the moment.
Thus, Su Yuan turned his gaze back towards the lower part of the Heavenly Ladder.
The burly man with a bare upper body had lost his composure after being overtaken by Su Yuan, falling off the Heavenly Ladder early after reaching the 971st step.
As for the tall, black-haired woman, she was still struggling at the 989th step. However, her constantly trembling body indicated that she had reached her limit.
“Can’t take a single more step!” The tall woman’s eyes were bloodshot.
Looking ahead, the mere ten steps seemed like an insurmountable chasm!
Watching Su Yuan, who had leaped from Gold Middle Stage directly to Gold Limit, and Seth, who had closed his eyes attempting a breakthrough, the tall woman felt both envy and jealousy.
“Get up there!” she gritted her teeth and forced her right foot forward.
Yet, before her right foot could land on the 990th step, she was overpowered by the immense pressure, spat out a mouthful of blood, and fell off the Heavenly Ladder…
Su Yuan continued looking downward, and above the 950th step, there was only one person left—Luo Bingtong!
Su Yuan had almost reached his limit after the 930th step and had to burst forth first, using Enhancement Techniques to take the lead.
But Luo Bingtong’s pressure resistance ability was astonishing. She could still rely on her fundamental strength to continue moving forward.
At this moment, standing on the 954th step, Luo Bingtong’s already fair and flawless delicate face appeared even paler. Her petite body trembled unceasingly, showing that she was also nearing her limit.
But what was alarming was that until now, Luo Bingtong hadn’t used any Enhancement Skills, relying purely on extraordinarily strong physical body and Star Power to withstand the journey thus far!
“The 954th step, higher than Gold Limit like Seth!” Su Yuan’s eyes grew heavy.
Luo Bingtong was only at Gold Early Stage, yet she managed to reach such a level!
At that moment, Luo Bingtong raised her head slightly, as if she was about to initiate something…
Her icy blue eyes flashed with a cold light, her short white hair lifting with no wind.
Amidst the surging frost and snow, her entire skin turned as crystalline and transparent as cold jade, her icy flesh and bones, and two slender Ice Bone Wings emerged from her back.
This was Xuanming Ice Soul!
And the difference this time was…
The Ice Bone Wings bore ancient patterns flowing with obsidian-like light, seemingly containing a heart-pounding energy.
“Looks like the limit on Xuanming Essence Skill has also been lifted.” Su Yuan thought, not very surprised.
Luo Bingtong had long obtained the Ten Thousand Transformation Xuan Ice. With Kong Zheng and even the Demon Emperor of Ancient Forbidden Zone backing her, it was simply too easy to lift the restriction on Xuanming Ice Soul.
Now, with Ice Soul Transformation activated, Luo Bingtong’s strength surged, effortlessly handling the pressure above the 950th step.
“Wait …”
Her icy blue eyes glanced at Su Yuan atop the Heavenly Ladder, and Luo Bingtong stepped forward, quickly rushing to the top of the ladder.
Her unrelenting pace was no less fast than Su Yuan’s earlier!
Watching Luo Bingtong advancing rapidly, Su Yuan began to ponder.
“In this state, reaching the 990th step shouldn’t be a problem for Ice Tong. As for whether she can reach the top, that depends on whether she can take it a step further…”
[Ice Soul] itself was a top-level Enhancement Technique on par with the [Great Sun Burning Body Technique]. With Luo Bingtong’s foundation, the 990th step seemed well within reach.
But from the looks of it, reaching the top seemed a bit forced.
After the epic stage, the difficulty of cultivating skills increased drastically.
Su Yuan himself had upgraded the Great Sun Burning Body Technique to Master level through accumulated points. He didn’t know to what extent Luo Bingtong had cultivated Ice Soul.
If she could enhance it further, perhaps reaching the top was possible.
Su Yuan thought about this and then looked past Luo Bingtong towards the lower steps because there was one more person he needed to watch over…
From the 900th to the 950th step, a new batch of Gold Level warriors had emerged, mostly Gold High Stage to Gold Limit experts.
Above the 800th step, there were even more people now than before.
Soon, Su Yuan’s eyes showed a trace of surprise.
He had initially thought Huang Xiang would only be seen below the 700th, or even the 600th step.
But unexpectedly, he already saw the young man with blonde hair dragging his exhausted body, moving forward on the steps above the 800th step!
“He actually reached above the 800th step! And… already Gold Level?”
Initially, breaking through to Gold Level should have been something to celebrate, but Huang Xiang’s current state made Su Yuan frown in concern.
“This guy is risking his life…”
Huang Xiang’s head drooped powerlessly; his figure was in shambles, and his entire body was covered in blood scabs due to the pressure rupturing numerous blood vessels, staining his clothes red.
Boiling Blood had long been activated, but its healing effects had significantly diminished, barely suppressing additional injuries, and his Star Power exhaustion made it look like he wouldn’t last much longer.
Yet, despite this, Huang Xiang hadn’t stopped. Every so often, he dragged his slightly shaking body to take another step forward.
And with each step, parts of his wounds, which had scabbed under Boiling Blood’s effect, would split open again, spilling small amounts of blood.
Such a scene indicated that he could collapse from severe injury at any moment!
But Huang Xiang was miraculously maintaining this state, not only breaking through the 666th step but also reaching the current height!
On closer inspection, it could be seen that although both his physical strength and Star Power were nearly at their limits, there was a resilient and bright gleam in Huang Xiang’s eyes.
Huang Xiang’s gaze was firmly fixed on the deep blue shining steps underfoot, not caring about how many steps he had climbed, focusing solely on stepping up to the next one!
Although breaking through to Gold Level didn’t significantly restore his physical strength or Star Power, it had enhanced his pressure resistance and recovery abilities considerably. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have lasted until now!
“This guy is already at the 820th step. I wonder how much longer he can hold on…”
While Su Yuan watched Huang Xiang, a sudden intense fluctuation of Star Power came from Seth’s direction.
“Is he really breaking through?” Su Yuan’s pupils contracted as he stepped back to increase the distance.
In a mere moment, centered around Seth, surging light element Star Power rose like a tide, shooting hundreds of meters high!
Accompanied by a powerful pressure of Star Power, a giant of light clad in golden armor emerged from the roaring tide of Star Power, majestic and imposing.
The aura around Seth rapidly ascended as if shot by a rocket, quickly surpassing the Gold Level by an unknown margin!
Soon after, Seth’s aura stabilized, and the light giant along with the roaring tide of Star Power was retracted into his body.
Seth opened his eyes, his gaze shining brightly, with his essence, qi, and spirit restored to peak condition in an instant.
“Shining Star!!”
Seth’s eyes were filled with uncontrollable joy, as he excitedly clenched his fists.
On this trip, he only came south with Kleken and others to take a look. Who would’ve thought they’d encounter the Dragon Gate Heavenly Ladder?
Originally, he had expected that it would take at least another year and a half to have the chance to break through to Shining Star Level, but now, he had naturally broken through?!
It felt like a dream!
However, cultivation was inherently unpredictable, reliant on talent, opportunity, luck…
And now, it seemed his luck wasn’t too bad.
Shining Star Level… Shining Star Level!
That was a completely different tier.
“Congratulations, Seth,” Su Yuan offered his wishes.
“Haha, thanks,” Seth laughed heartily.
Even though he had now become a Shining Star warrior, Seth didn’t underestimate Su Yuan.
Seth understood that, even if it was just for a moment, Su Yuan’s aura in his Purple Flame Burning Body state was certainly capable of contending with Shining Stars.
Now that Su Yuan had reached Gold Limit, he was undoubtedly closer to Shining Star. For a short period, he was virtually equivalent to a Shining Star warrior.
Seth glanced at the teleportation portal behind him and asked, “Su Yuan, aren’t you going up?”
Su Yuan shook his head and looked towards Luo Bingtong, who was charging up step by step not far below.
Before his breakthrough, Seth had no time to notice others.
Now, breaking through just a moment earlier, Seth followed Su Yuan’s gaze and saw Luo Bingtong in her Ice Soul Transformation. He was instantly shocked.
“This little girl, she’s as much a monster as Su Yuan!”
Seth’s expression changed slightly, surprised that the young girl following Su Yuan was also such a prodigy, clearly appearing much younger than Aria.