Seeing that no one believed the comments, Xiao Jin was so angry that he gritted his teeth. He immediately picked up his spiritual scroll, took a photo of the front, and uploaded it.
"See? All the deacons are escorting him to the second trial. This person is named Wan Lei, and he truly has Origin-tier talent. If you don't believe me, you can ask Elder Jin. If I'm lying, may my whole family die. If I'm telling the truth, may your whole family die upstairs."
8th Floor: Holy crap, is it really true? No, I have to go see.
9th Floor: If it's not true when we get there, we'll beat the楼主's shit out of him.
10th Floor: Strip him naked and hang him on the mountain gate.
...
Whether it was the commenters or those lurking and watching, they all flew towards the south gate of the Five Elements Hall.
After all, life within the sect was rather boring. An occasional bit of entertainment, how could they not go to the scene to spectate?
The most important thing was that this major gossip was right at their doorstep, making it convenient to come and go.
In an instant, many small flying ships within the Five Elements Hall set out, speeding towards the south gate.
And at this moment, Wan Lei, under the escort of the deacons, finally arrived at the foot of the mountain, before the hundred thousand steps.
These steps were extremely steep. From afar, they appeared to descend from the mountaintop
at a vertical angle of sixty degrees. Mortals would need to use both hands and feet to climb them.
The steps were very wide. Almost the entire south face of the peak was carved into steps. Looking up, hundreds of cultivators were climbing them, using both hands and feet.
Seeing their arduous appearance, Wan Lei knew that this trial was as difficult as the first one, at least for others.
"Young friend, these steps are called the Sky-Reaching Ascent. It signifies that if one reaches the peak, more than half of the examinees have crossed the threshold into the Five Elements Hall. It's almost like soaring to the heavens in a single step.
This ascent of the Sky-Reaching Steps is different from the first trial. Flying is not allowed. Of course, the result of flying would be losing your footing and being repelled by the vast divine sense power.
This trial does not rely on cultivation or innate talent. It only tests the strength of one's divine sense and the willpower of the soul. Only those with firm willpower can reach the peak!"
A deacon elder explained the rules to Wan Lei.
Looking towards the mountaintop through the clouds, one could vaguely see several deacons peering down. It was clear that Wan Lei's performance in the first trial had attracted their attention.
Xiao Jin squeezed through the crowd and came to Wan Lei's side, looking extremely excited.
"Little Brother Wan, the fastest person to ever ascend these Sky-Reaching Steps was the Hall Master of the Wind Hall, Ruo Shui Qiu. She reached the peak in just five hours.
For this trial, how many minutes do you plan to take?"
Wan Lei looked at him in surprise, "Where do you get your confidence from? More confident than me?
I passed the first trial because of my good talent and special physique. This trial tests the soul. My soul isn't particularly special..."
Wait? No, I am the Soul of the Thunder God, a congenital deity nurtured by heaven and earth. My divine soul should be much stronger than ordinary people, right?
After encouraging himself, Wan Lei stepped onto the stairs.
The moment his foot touched the step, he felt a surge of divine sense power strike towards his sea of consciousness, trying to push him down.
But, it wasn't that strong.
Thinking that he couldn't fly here, Wan Lei thought of a faster way to reach the summit.
If I can't fly, can't I jump?
A faint smile appeared on Wan Lei's lips. He forcefully pushed off the step beneath his foot, and his body shot upwards like an arrow released from a bowstring.
Then, he landed steadily on the tenth step.
Feeling that the pressure change had not increased significantly, Wan Lei relaxed. He began to leap on the steps, jumping over ten steps with each bound, moving at extreme speed.
One hundred steps, two hundred steps, three hundred steps...
Just as Wan Lei was leaping rhythmically, without any distractions, a large group of small flying ships from within the Five Elements Hall suddenly flew to the side of the tall mountain.
A group of people disembarked from the flying ships and saw the figure on the steps constantly leaping at an extremely fast pace.
"Holy crap, it's true! This person is this fast in the second trial too?"
"What kind of monstrous talent is this? It's too amazing."
"Another powerhouse is about to emerge. Will my ranking in the Creation Pagoda drop again?"
Amidst the amazed exclamations, the crowd began to discuss. Simultaneously, they took out their spiritual scrolls. Some were posting on forums to confirm the truth of the matter, while others were calling their friends, inviting more people to come and spectate... to witness history.
"Which one is the楼主?"
Suddenly, a disciple shouted.
Xiao Jin, who was accompanying Wan Lei upwards on his flying sword, heard the shout and replied,
"I am the楼主!"
Upon hearing this, the hundreds of disciples from the Five Elements Hall swarmed over, bombarding him with questions.
"You are a disciple of the Sword Hall. Do you know this person? Is he your friend?"
"Did he really finish the first trial in one and a half minutes? Is it true or not?"
"Does he really have Origin-tier talent? Don't fool me."
"What's his attribute? Which hall will he go to in the future?"
The questions came from all directions, overwhelming Xiao Jin. Xiao Jin waved his hands repeatedly and said loudly,
"He's here for the assessment and doesn't know the way. I met him and brought him here. As for the first trial, if you don't believe it, you can ask the deacons below. As for the Origin-tier talent, Elder Jin himself tested it. He's right there below, go ask him yourself.
As for his attribute, he's of the lightning attribute."
"Aowuuuu!!!"
As soon as these words were spoken, a disciple of the Five Elements Hall wearing a sky-blue disciple robe excitedly shouted. He immediately took out his spiritual scroll and yelled into it,
"Lightning Hall disciples, assemble! Come and protect our soon-to-be junior brother. We absolutely cannot let the Pill Hall or the Sword Hall snatch him away. This person is an unparalleled prodigy. He must stay in our Lightning Hall, he must stay in our Lightning Hall!"
His cry drew scorn from the surrounding crowd.
"Tsk, he's of the lightning attribute, so the other halls can't snatch him. Look how anxious you are."
"As if our Sword Hall likes to snatch your people. He might not necessarily be a sword cultivator."
"The Lightning Hall is truly poor. Our other halls are not lacking one person. Is it really necessary?"
The disciple from the Lightning Hall retorted indignantly,
"Our Lightning Hall disciples are fewer in number than yours by a large margin. What if your hall fancies his talent and shamelessly snatches him?"
The disciples began to argue, while Wan Lei ignored the surrounding noise, continuing to jump rhythmically.
Some of the disciples beside him were cheering him on, while others took out their spiritual scrolls to post, calling for more people to come and watch.
Among these disciples, one person was particularly eye-catching.
He held his spiritual scroll high, filming Wan Lei while shouting,
"Family in the live stream, ten minutes have passed, and this person has already completed sixty thousand steps.
As everyone knows, the spiritual pressure increases as you ascend the Sky-Reaching Steps. I wonder how long it will take him to reach the summit.
For those who can't make it, don't worry. Little Su Su will continuously live stream the second and third trials for you. Family, let's get the gifts flowing!"