The Luo family’s old ancestor, Luo Xu, was a Saint who had come out of the Sacred Courtyard, and held an extremely high status in the Sacred Courtyard.
With his token in hand, Luo Shuihan naturally had unimpeded access in the Sacred Courtyard.
Soon, the Heavenly Demon Ridge’s group arrived at the place of the first round of examination – the Pilgrimage Heavenly Stairs.
The Pilgrimage Heavenly Staircase, was the highest building in the Holy Courtyard, constructed from white snow crystal meteorites, each weighing 100,000 jin, with a total of ninety-nine steps, straight into the clouds, giving people a feeling of grandeur and atmosphere.
At the top of the ninety-nine steps of the heavenly ladder, there was a white holy temple that emitted white holy light all year round. From afar, it looked like a round moon suspended in the dome of the sky, and in the centre of the round moon, there was a holy temple.
Only in the Holy Courtyard could one see such a wondrous sight.
It was said that since the beginning of time, any Saint who walked out of the Holy Courtyard would leave behind an item to be deposited in that one Holy Temple.
At the same time, that one holy temple, enshrining the stone statues of the saints, contained the remnants of the saints’ holy power, allowing future generations of trainees to make a pilgrimage for all eternity.
If you wanted to make a pilgrimage, you had to climb the heavenly ladder.
At the top of the Pilgrimage Heavenly Ladder, in the holy temple, a huge pressure of holy power emanated, like a white chain dropping down.
Every time one climbed upwards, the pressure would increase exponentially.
Only those trainees who ascended the thirtieth step of the heavenly ladder were considered to have passed the first round of examination.
When Luo Shuihan, Zhang Ruochen, Huang Yichen, Duanmu Xingling, Si Xingkong, Chang Qiqi, and Chen Xi’er, arrived at the bottom of the Pilgrimage Heavenly Ladder, there were already hundreds of people who had ascended the ladder, and were climbing upwards.
At the location of the thirtieth step of the heavenly ladder, there stood a huge nine-metre-high jade tablet.
Any cadet who ascended the thirtieth step of the heavenly ladder had to use his finger and carve his name on top of the jade tablet before he could be considered to have passed the first round of examination.
Those talented trainees, after ascending the thirtieth step, were not satisfied and continued to climb upwards.
Some people, surprisingly, had already ascended the fiftieth step and, moreover, were still climbing upwards.
Huang Smokey said, ”Only those with higher qualifications can climb higher. Therefore, many people, even though they have already passed the first round of examination, still climb upwards as a way to prove that they are better than others.”
“The Pilgrimage Heavenly Staircase, is a very famous monument in the entire Eastern Region, as long as you are able to overpower the crowd here and show exceptional talent, you will immediately become famous in the world.”
“Human fame, establish a shadow. Such an opportunity doesn’t come anytime.”
Chang Qiqi rubbed his palms together, his entire body becoming excited and exuberant, “Haha! It seems that today is the time for my old Chang to become famous in one fell swoop.”
It wasn’t just Chang Qi Qi, Si Xingkong, Huang Yichen, and Chen Xi’er all looked quite excited because, this was a rare opportunity to prove their strength, to compete against the proud sons of heaven from the entire Eastern Region.
Moreover, it was still in the Holy Academy.
It was estimated that there were many Half-Saint level figures that were also standing in the shadows and were observing the Pilgrimage Heavenly Stairs.
As long as they performed well enough, they might be directly accepted as disciples by the Half-Saints.
It wasn’t like this hadn’t happened before in the previous examinations of the Holy Academy. Therefore, even though it was only the first round of the examination, everyone was still working hard to perform themselves.
Zhang Ruochen and the others didn’t immediately go to climb the Heavenly Stairs, still still observing, wanting to see what level the geniuses of the Eastern Region were at?
It wasn’t long before those genius trainees from Southern Cloud County, who had also arrived at the bottom of the Pilgrimage Heavenly Stairs, rushed up towards the direction of the Heavenly Stairs in a flurry.
Even if it was an outstanding heir of a half-saint family like Zi Hansha, if he was accepted as a disciple by a half-saint, it would definitely be a great joy.
This was because, the Purple Family also only had one Half-Saint level old ancestor, and he didn’t show his face very often.
If, by accident, that one Half Saint old ancestor fell and no new Half Saint was born, then the Purple Family would immediately be knocked off the mortal coil and lose its status as a Half Saint family, and at the same time, it could also be suppressed and have its interests divided by other Half Saint families.
If he was able to become a disciple of a half-saint, then Zi Hansha’s status in the Zi family would also rise, and he could definitely become the successor to the head of the Zi family.
Even the status of the Purple Family might rise with it.
“The Pilgrimage Heavenly Staircase. Great, today, is the day that I, Zi Hansha, will become famous in one fell swoop. If I can gain the favour of a Half Saint and become a disciple of a Half Saint. Back in the Purple Family, who would dare to treat me with disrespect? That little b*tch, Snow Shadow Rou, will still not obediently throw herself into my arms.”
The more Zi Han Sha thought about it, the more excited he became, so he took a deep breath, and with a stomp of his legs, he leapt up and landed directly on top of the twenty-first step of the heavenly ladder.
“Boom!”
Zi Han Sha’s outstanding performance caused quite a shock.
“Who is that person, to have jumped directly to the twenty-first step, that’s really impressive.”
“The Sacred Academy Examination, it really is full of experts.”
Zi Han Sha heard the exclamation below, his heart was happy, and continued to climb upwards, the twenty-second step, the twenty-third step ……
Almost without any stops, he ascended the thirtieth step.
His fingertips, condensed a ball of purple light, swish swish swish three sound, in the jade tablet above, leaving “purple cold sand” three deep word marks.
Immediately after that, he continued to climb upwards.
Only, after thirty steps, the holy power suppression emanating from the holy temple, obviously strengthened, purple cold sand climbing ladder speed gradually slowed down.
It took him a quarter of an hour to reach the fortieth step.
Then, the speed at which he ascended the ladder became even slower. Almost every three minutes, he was able to climb one step upwards.
Even so, Zi Hansha still appeared to stand out from the rest because, so far, with him, there were only twenty-three genius trainees who had climbed above the fortieth step.
“Zi Han Sha deserves to be the number one expert of the Southern Cloud County Martial City Academy, he does have real skills.”Zhang Ruochen’s heart secretly said.
Just at this moment, the bottom of the Pilgrimage Heavenly Staircase resounded with another round of exclamations.
The twenty-fourth genius student, ascending the fortieth step.
The reason why it caused an exclamation was because, this genius trainee was a stunningly beautiful woman with a slim figure, skin like congealed grease, and long hair like a golden waterfall, which was like a fairy in a painting when it was set against the divine light emanating from the Pilgrimage Heavenly Stairs.
Zhang Ruochen also glanced towards that one woman and nodded gently. It had to be said that Snow Shadow Rou was indeed outstandingly beautiful. Especially that chaste and lovely little womanly aura she had, it was very endearing and was a fatal temptation to men, who wanted to take her into their arms and love her well.
“Although this woman is annoying, her natural talent is not low.”Duanmu Xingling said.
Huang Yichen said, “You know her?”
The corner of Duanmu Xingling’s mouth hooked and glanced towards Zhang Ruochen, smiling, “At best, I’m considered to be acquainted with her, but Zhang Ruochen’s friendship with her is very deep, not only has he rescued her, but he has also taught her swordsmanship ……”
Duanmu Xingling wanted to continue, but Zhang Ruochen coughed dryly, interrupting her words.
Huang Yichen was originally short-tempered, and even a spark falling on her body could set her ablaze, so when she heard Duanmu Xingling’s words, she naturally thought of a lot of “beautiful and romantic” images.
“Hmph! Is she beautiful? Why didn’t I think so?”
Huang Yichen clenched a mouthful of snow-white teeth and stared tightly at Zhang Ruochen, her five fingers pinched and clacked.
Zhang Ruochen laughed, “It’s true that it’s not much more beautiful.”
Huang Yichen snorted coldly again, revealing a look that said, “It’s weird to believe you,” and then, she rushed out, surprisingly going to climb the Pilgrimage Heavenly Stairs as well.
Because of Huang Yichen’s mother’s guidance, coupled with the power of the dragon’s blood, Huang Yichen’s cultivation had skyrocketed, and had long since changed from what it was in the past.
“Wow!”
Just by stepping out, Huang Yichen directly ascended to the twenty-second step, and then, fit as a fiddle, she stepped out four more steps to reach the thirtieth step.
Leaving her name on the jade tablet, she then immediately stepped onto the thirty-first step of the heavenly ladder, chasing after Xue Ying Rou in front of her.
Men like to fight for strength, so how could women be any different?
Seeing Huang Yichen chasing straight after Snow Shadow Rou, Zhang Ruochen’s heart became even more helpless as he glared at Duanmu Xingling and said, “Senior Sister Duanmu, you know that Senior Sister Huang is short-tempered, and you’re deliberately trying to provoke her.”
“I’m telling the truth, is it wrong? I haven’t even told her that Snow Shadow Rou kissed you.”Duanmu Xingling smiled and said.
Chang Qi Qi looked at Huang Yichen on top of the Holy City’s heavenly staircase and said, “Senior Sister Huang’s strength, how could it be so powerful, could it be that she has completely refined the dragon’s blood?”
The strength Huang Yichen displayed was indeed quite astonishing, and seemed to be a step more powerful than even Zi Hansha.
Chang Qi Qi asked herself that she was still cultivating very hard, but she had only refined a third of the dragon’s blood, and her current strength was too far from Huang Yichen’s.
Chen Xi’er said, ”Don’t you all know that cousin’s mother is a half-saint, and with the help of a half-saint, cousin has long since completely refined the dragon blood. Moreover, it’s not just dragon blood.”
“Not just dragon blood?”
Chen Xi’er nodded and said, “Do you all still remember that one Half-Saint’s Heart of Emperor Yi? After that one Half-Saint Heart was dug out by Auntie, it was given to Cousin. In recent months, cousin has been using the Half-Saint’s Heart in her cultivation, and with aunt’s help, her cultivation has long since broken through to the late stage of the Heavenly Extremity Realm, and it seems that she’s all set to reach the Heavenly Extremity Realm’s Lesser Extremity Position.”
“Hehe! Having a Half Saint as a mother is just marvellous. If I had the help of a Half Saint, I would have also completely refined the dragon’s blood long ago. If I had a half-saint’s heart, I would have also broken through the realm a long time ago.”Chang Qi Qi said with a long sigh.
Huang Yichen’s progress was indeed quite large, perhaps because of the complete refining of the dragon’s blood, as she pushed her true qi with all her might, strands of golden light surfaced on her body, converging to form the silhouette of a golden dragon.
“Ow!”
A loud and clear dragon’s roar erupted from her body, forming a massive aura.
In just an instant, she crossed three steps upwards in a row, ascending the forty-second step and arriving behind Xue Ying Rou.
Snow Shadow Rou was obviously startled for a moment, and when she felt the massive aura coming from behind her, she immediately turned around, only to see an iceberg beauty with a full head of long blue hair standing behind her.
“Ow!”
There was another dragon roar.
That one beauty with long blue hair stretched out a palm, which emitted a golden glow that converged into a dragon claw that grabbed towards Xue Ying Rou’s shoulder.
“What are you? What are you doing?”Xue Ying Rou was startled.
Xue Ying Rou was also a Heaven’s Pride daughter with powerful cultivation, her reaction was sharp and she immediately shifted one step sideways, her slender waist twisting slightly to dodge Huang Yicun’s strike.
“Divine Dragon Moving Mountain.”
Huang Yichen immediately chased after her, both palms came out, one hand grabbed Snow Shadow Rou’s waist, one hand grabbed Snow Shadow Rou’s neck, both hands were like two dragon claws, pushing downwards, directly knocking Snow Shadow Rou down the Pilgrimage Heavenly Stairs.
“Boom boom!”
Xue Ying Rou was at least a stunning beauty, but at this moment, she was in a sorry state as she tumbled down the Pilgrimage Heavenly Stairs.
Originally, for every Holy Academy Examination, there would definitely be many geniuses and juniors fighting on top of the Pilgrimage Heavenly Stairs, and many people were psychologically prepared for it.
However, no one expected that it would be two stunning beauties who would start the battle first, and it was so tragic that one of them was even directly sent flying, their face was lost, their image was ruined, not to mention how tragic it was!
