Pursued by the Top Grade Saintess after Engagement Annulled-Chapter 401 - 397: Heaven-Ascending Ladder Rules

The Heaven-Ascending Ladder has a total of 99 steps, and the pressure increases exponentially with each step.

Moreover, the second round of assessment is limited to three days. At the end of three days, those who enter the top ten pass, while those who do not will be directly transmitted out of the Secret Realm.

However, if someone successfully reaches the top before the three-day period, the assessment ends immediately, with extra rewards for the one who reaches the top.

Most importantly, killing is not forbidden in the Heaven-Ascending Ladder.

The platform they are currently standing on is still within the waiting area of the Divine Hall of Inheritance, and they cannot attack each other yet.

But once they step onto the Heaven-Ascending Ladder, this protection will disappear.

The sides of the Heaven-Ascending Ladder do not have handrails, only emptiness, with the turbulent waves continuously rising below from the Sea of Secret Realm.

There are also no barriers around, just walking up like this makes one worry about falling.

Not to mention that attacking each other is now allowed.

This is clearly intended to consume them once more. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

There are blood beasts in the Sea of Secret Realm; passing the first round does not mean those blood beasts have disappeared.

If someone really falls from the Heaven-Ascending Ladder, it would be good if they can escape back to the waiting area of the Divine Hall of Inheritance in time.

If they can’t escape back, those Celestial Tier First Layer Martial God Level blood beasts around are not to be trifled with.

They haven’t had much chance to replenish their fresh blood in millions of years, and now they’ve finally caught these assessors.

If it weren’t for the prohibitions set by Wuji Divine Monarch in the Heaven-Ascending Ladder and the waiting area of the Divine Hall of Inheritance, these blood beasts without much intelligence would have long followed their instincts and charged up.

Even now, these blood beasts are still restlessly circling around this location, seemingly wanting to find an opportunity to devour all these people.

The surrounding people’s expressions became subtle, seemingly a bit restless.

At this stage, the order doesn’t matter much; everyone is worried about being stabbed in the back while walking in front.

After all, only the top 10 count, the rest will all be sent out.

There are still about two hundred people here now, with such a high elimination rate, these people are somewhat tense.

And naturally, Xia Feng is being targeted by these people.

Quite a few members of the Ximen Clan and the Nangong Clan, who know they have no hope of entering the top ten, have spontaneously surrounded Xia Feng and the other two.

They can’t attack each other in this space, but they can block Xia Feng’s movements, preventing him from leaving this place.

This way, they can delay him from participating in the competition.

Dongfang Qingcang, on the opposite side, snorted coldly, disdainful of those people’s actions.

Ximen Chun commanded these people to continue to block Xia Feng, then smiled flatteringly at Dongfang Qingcang.

"Brother Qingcang, this kid is quite malicious, he even refused your recruitment earlier. Such a person should have his path to the Heaven-Ascending Ladder cut off."

His smile was somewhat vicious, he glared at Xia Feng, then continued: "If there’s a way to throw this person into the Sea of Blood, it’s best to let those blood beasts take care of him."

"Doesn’t he like killing blood beasts to grab points? Let’s let him kill to his heart’s content this time, I want to see if he has such stamina."

Dongfang Qingcang’s face, originally just disliking Ximen Chun’s small actions, now turned completely dark.

He is currently only in third place, originally dissatisfied with the point-grabbing process of killing blood beasts in the first round.

If no one around mentioned this, he might just turn a blind eye and fool himself.

But Ximen Chun still kept talking without end, making Dongfang Qingcang’s expression increasingly unpleasant.

After quite a while, he coldly looked at Ximen Chun: "Oh? Seems you really like killing blood beasts?"

Ximen Chun looked confused, seemingly unable to understand why Dongfang Qingcang said this, but soon he sensed something from Dongfang Qingcang’s increasingly unpleasant expression.

He quickly and hastily explained: "No, Brother Qingcang, let me explain..."

Dongfang Qingcang snorted coldly, having no intention of listening, and directly rushed to start climbing the Heaven-Ascending Ladder.

Everyone was waiting for the first person to take action, seemingly wanting to see what exactly the Heaven-Ascending Ladder was trying to assess from his actions.

If someone else was the first to ascend, perhaps those people would stab in the back or something, but now the first to go up was Dongfang Qingcang.

These people’s expressions showed a bit of tension, seemingly worried about potential occurrences.

Dongfang Qingcang’s face didn’t look good either; Wuji Divine Monarch has already restrained the immense pressure greatly, coming gradually.

But the bloodline from Dongfang Clan on Dongfang Qingcang’s body made Wuji Divine Monarch’s illusion feel somewhat displeased.

The pressure he bears on his body is probably threefold heavier than that of loose cultivators, just stepping onto the first stone step almost made him spit out a mouthful of blood.

After a long while, Dongfang Qingcang finally adapted to this pressure, then stepped forward again.

As he continued upwards, the pressure became increasingly heavy, making his breathing increasingly labored.

Some others exchanged glances, then rushed to follow Dongfang Qingcang’s footsteps up the ladder.

Members of the Four Great Clans each bore heavier pressure, while the steps of those loose cultivators seemed slightly lighter.

Dongfang Qingcang soon realized something was wrong, narrowing his eyes slightly at the loose cultivators who set off later but already caught up with him.

After carefully distinguishing for a while, Dongfang Qingcang’s face turned unpleasant looking at the illusion of Wuji Divine Monarch in mid-air.

"Divine Monarch, why are there distinctions between different people?"

"Is it based on cultivation so that pressure differs?"

"Or is it that, with secret treasures on their bodies, the pressure they bear will be heavier?"

The illusion of Wuji Divine Monarch in mid-air glanced at Dongfang Qingcang’s figure, then snorted lightly.

"Those with bloodlines of the Four Great Clans naturally bear heavier pressure."

Dongfang Qingcang’s complexion turned somewhat ashen, he didn’t know about the old grievances between Wuji Divine Monarch and the Four Great Clans, but he guessed most of it now.

He struggled forward, suddenly, the bell rang, the heavens and earth were shrouded in mist once again.

Dongfang Qingcang’s expression showed some suspicion and uncertainty, obviously worried that some new issues might catch him off guard.

Instead, the illusion above in mid-air solidified many folds.

"Upon detecting that over half the assessors still remain in the waiting area, now initializing the restart of the second assessment, compulsory assessment starts."

As soon as these words fell, the entire Heaven-Ascending Ladder was shrouded in mist once again, making it difficult to discern the situation inside.