It was a colossal stairway that ascended towards the very limits of the sky as if calmly overlooking the world.

Sou! Sou! Sou! However, this calmness was soon disturbed, as many silhouettes appeared and disappeared as they mounted its stairs climbing to the limits of the heavens itself. The figures moved with unique and various styles, some moving as flexible as monkeys, some leaving nothing but blurs and others even morphing into the beams of light.

Sadly, these were only the strongest among these climbers, as the weaker ones would slowly throttle their way up the stairway as if they were bearing the world"s strongest pressure, trying their hardest to overcome their limits.

"Arghh!" A bulky looking youth roared to the heavens as his veins protruded on his entire body, beads of sweat poured down his frame as he struggled with every ounce of his fleshy body"s power to mount his next step up the stairway.

Finally, after a loud stomp on the ground, he managed to make progress further along these stairs. He sat down and regulated his breathing as he wiped the sweat from his forehead before looking up at the endless steps remaining in front of his eyes.

"Haa... haa... whew, this challenge is going nowhere. I won"t make it if I continue to struggle at this remote section. How could anyone be as monstrous as those geniuses from the imperial clans and top powers," The youth said while calming breathing.

Soon, he moved his vision downwards a noticed a strange scene.

As the other talents struggled to make their way forward with all their might, there were five unusual forms quickly surpa.s.sing the ma.s.ses traversing the stairway as if they were weightless ent.i.ties.

"What on earth is g----?" The youth exclaimed in shock, but before he could finish his words, the forms instantly appeared at his location soon after vanishing to the distant steps of the stairway ascending to the heights of the heavens.

The youth looked up at the backs of these individuals that traveled to the limits of the sky in the blink of an eye in disbelief.

"Are, are my eyes playing tricks on me?" The youth questioned himself as he rubbed his eyes vigorously.

Down on the ground level, all of the audience and crowd looked at the scene being displayed on a screen made of energy in surprise.

"These guys! Who the h.e.l.l are they?" An individual within the audience said.

"Not to bother about those unknown guys don"t you see who that guy is?" Another individual said as he pointed towards the red-haired youth that was casually ascending the stairway with the strange group of individuals. Looking closely, it seemed as if he was taking a stroll with the other individuals who each displayed a similar kind of leisure as they traversed hundreds of meters upwards with each step.

"How can this be?!" Xiang Tian roared as he looked at the figure of Feng Yu in shock. He couldn"t believe what he saw even wholly forgetting the fact that his son Xiang Shu was displaying a similar type of strength with ease.

"When did the Feng Clan kid get so powerful? Wait, could it be just his willpower? That"s right that has to be it. This challenge does not require a deep cultivation base," He said to himself as he decided to convince himself that Feng Yu was only lucky because of his strength of will.

Xun Yanshan looked at Feng Yu with a strange glow in his eyes as he pondered, "Such skill, could this so-called troublemaker be really as the common ma.s.s proclaim him to be?"

The Townlord along with his wife and other significant characters now looking surprised, as they didn"t expect to see this kind of scene from the low key and unusual Feng Clan.

Feng Xingyu looked at Feng Yu with a proud expression on her face as she spoke, "Haha! Eldest Brother, Little Yu"er reminds me of you in the past..."

She said as she looked at Feng Yu with a look of nostalgia on her face.

Feng Yunlong hearing her words couldn"t help but nod as he watched his son with pride. Soon, the figure of a young man with a broad back appeared in front of his eyes. He stood on top of a divine mountain radiating powerful energy that seemed as if it could destroy all things in its path. The young man looked back at Feng Yunlong as said, "Little brother, with me here. Who can block our path?"

Eventually, the image of this young man superimposed with the youthful-looking man at the peak of his thirties currently standing in front of him. He also looked back with a similar expression at Feng Yunlong and spoke, "Hmph! With me here! How can my nephew not be as manly?"

He said with a tone of absolute confidence and a firm look in his eyes.

Feng Yunlong rolled his eyes as he retorted, "He may be your nephew, but he is my son. If there is anyone he takes after in manliness, it"s me for sure!"

Feng Xingyu hearing this smirked as she responded, "You mean the genes that came mostly from Sister Shangan!"

"Xingyu!" Feng Yunlong roared as a towering aura was about to erupt from him, but before the aura could escape. It was restricted by invisible pressure as a hand gently patted his shoulder.

"Calm down!" Feng Junling said as he looked at Feng Xingyu disapprovingly.

As the Feng Clan quelled its drama, the challenge amongst geniuses continued.

Crackle! A streak of blue lightning swiftly beamed towards the heights of the stairway traversing many of the struggling talents, but soon it began to slow down as it reached an area that was very close to the limits of the sky.

Phew! After a flash of light, the figure of Dai Lin appeared once more to the world, right behind him were the forms of Ji Weng and Xuan Bei who looked at the lightning that materialized into a man before them in shock.

"Blue Thunder Dai Lin!" Ji Weng and Xuan Bei roared as a rush of battle intent rose in their eyes.

Dai Lin looked at them in surprise as he smiled and responded, "Ah... I didn"t think I"d have reached so far, the genius of the west and prince of our kingdom! Do you want to challenge me?"

He then waved his finger and pointed at himself.

Seeing his lax att.i.tude, Xuan Bei felt a wave of anger due to his causal response.

"Dai Lin, your talent is exceptional I would like to make a bet," Ji Weng said as a sharp look came over his eyes.

"Oh! What does the ill.u.s.trious Western Genius want to bet with me?" Dai Lin said.

"Let us compete to see who among us can reach to top first! If you can achieve victory among the both of us, you will have the chance of requesting any item you desire. However, if you were to lose, you will join me and become my retainer!" Ji Weng explained while looking at Dai Lin.

Hearing this Dai Lin frowned but after a moment he smiled and shook his finger, "No no! It"s after I beat you. You will give me anything I want, as for trying to make me your retainer. Hmph! You"re not qualified!"

Upon saying these words, he flickered and transformed into a streak of blue lightning once more ascending the stairway, only this time it was much slower than it was previously.

"Che! You don"t know good from bad! Let me show you what a true genius is!" Ji Weng angrily responded as he revolved his "Drunken Monkey Steps" quickly and flexibly made his way up the stairs strangely.

"Both of you, don"t you talk as if I"m not here!" Xuan Bei yelled as he started his "Bright Fire Serpent Steps" once again.

As the trio continued their struggle a few forms could be seen catching up behind them, a young man leaped once transforming into a series of remnant shades as he swiftly made his way up the stairway. While a shadow flowed amongst the railing of the stairs, moving like a silent black beam of light.

Dai Lin looked behind at these two individuals in surprise, as Xuan Bei and Ji Weng cursed in their minds.

"d.a.m.n! That shadow b.i.t.c.h and that brute have made it here too soon!" Xuan Bei complained.

"Hmm... aren"t those?" As Ji Weng was observing Tang Wu"s and Xin Qing"s appearance, Dai Lin also noticed two familiar forms in the distance who were swiftly catching up.

"Oh? They certainly are something else, to have caught up so quickly," Dai Lin said while looking at Lang Kuang and Miren Fei in the distance.

Quickly though, he focused back on track as his form vanished amongst the clouds followed by Ji Weng, Xuan Bei, Tang Wu, and Xin Qing.

∞∞∞

Time continued to flow as the struggling talents proceeded to mount the Ascending Dragon Platform.

A few famous geniuses in smaller influences had started to succ.u.mb to the pressure of the stairway, soon after falling like a meteor threatening to collide with the ground.

Luckily, however, the elders from the Sky Splitting Sword School had acted together to create a barrier cushion to lessen the damage caused by falling from those heights of the stairway.

The crowd seeing this scene couldn"t help but sigh at the loss of these talents who couldn"t ascend.

"Where there are Dragons, there are kings amongst dragons, where they are geniuses there are geniuses amongst geniuses. The world has always operated on the logic of strong and weak, those who can"t stand above the pack aren"t capable of being chosen," The strange old man said as he looked at the scene with a deep gaze. Soon, he cast his gaze back towards the stairway, and a smile came on his face.

"The Dragons rise as the Tigers descend..." He softly said as his voice trailed off into the wind.

Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou!

As Dai Lin and the other geniuses pushed forth with all their might. Vaguely, the summit of the stairs could be seen growing closer and closer as they traversed upwards. A smile could be seen on each of their faces as they felt that they were about to be the first ones to make it to the end of the challenge but suddenly there was a change.

Buzz! The pressure within the area instantly increased once again, by at least tenfold.

Thud! Thud! A few of the geniuses who were closer to them collapsed on the stairway as they felt their body were about to rip to pieces.

"d.a.m.n! What the h.e.l.l!" A genius roared in defiance as he struggled to move.

Lang Kuang and Miren Fei also started to struggle quite a bit but still pushed on forwards.

"I will grow stronger and kill the ones who killed my father!" Miren Fei yelled as she pushed all her focus into her strange dance forcing her steps forwards.

"I will make my clan proud!" Lang Kuang roared as he pushed forwards like a real wild wolf.

Dai Lin, Xuan Bei, Ji Weng, Tang Wu, and Xin Qing frowned as they felt the increased pressure causing them to be unable to display their movement techniques to their full capabilities. Now, they could only move at the same speed the other talents moved with at the lower steps of the Ascending Dragon Platform.

"It looks like this last phase won"t be easy…" Dai Lin muttered as he struggled to push forwards while revolving his .

As they continued to make their way forward, there was a disturbance behind them.

A few silhouettes could be seen making their way upwards as if the pressure didn"t mean anything to them, they instantly traversed the distance soon catching up to the forms of Dai Lin and the others, as the talents saw this they looked on in shock.

"Isn"t that the guy from the Feng Clan!" Ji Weng exclaimed in surprise as he tried to calm his surprised mood.

"So now Young Master has finally caught up," Dai Lin said with a smile on his face.

"This Southern Wasteland youth and these guys are no joke," Tang Wu said as inspected the group for a bit before pausing on Feng Yu.

"Hmph! You finally show your true form," Xin Qing said as she looked at Feng Yu who was strolling the stairway with the group behind her.

Soon, they appeared in front of everyone else while continuing with their strange leisurely walking pattern as if strolling on the beach.

The mysterious spear youth along with the pretty young girl and the brawny youth paid no attention to Ji Weng and the others, as they continued to stroll onwards quickly vanishing before their eyes. Xiang Shu could also be seen moving strangely as if like the wind itself he glided forwards like a fleeting ghost.

As they moved, Feng Yu and Hui Ying who was moving amongst them saw Dai Lin, Lang Kuang, and Miren Fei, seeing that the latter was struggling he sent a message to Dai Lin.

"Dai Lin, pick up the pace, or you"ll be left behind," Feng Yu said casually.

Hui Ying beside him also spoke with a mocking smile, "Blue Thunder Dai Lin, is this where your legacy ends?"

Dai Lin hearing this smiled as a spark of lightning shone in his eyes while he responded, "As Young Master commands!"

His body glowed with bright electrical lights as his form quickly vanished appearing beside Feng Yu and Hui Ying making their way towards the stair"s summits.

Ji Weng, Xuan Bei, and others could only look on in surprise with their mouths opened wide as their forms vanished towards the summit of the stairway.