“Young Master, you can do it! Become the best by reaching the top!” The children cheered for him.

“Young Master, first place is yours for the taking!” Lu Daowei couldn’t help but join. He didn’t know how many steps Li Qiye could do but since he benefited so much from Li Qiye’s help and the previous bets.

He bought everything for the number one spot and earned so much. Thus, even if Li Qiye couldn’t get the top three spots right now, he already won enough and had nothing but grat.i.tude towards Li Qiye.

Some peers stared at him as if he was an idiot but he didn’t stop shouting for Li Qiye.

Many demons viewed him not only as a fool but also as a traitor. They certainly hated Li Qiye mainly because of Gong Qianyue. In addition, he was also Huang Ning and Zhan Hu’s enemy.

Those two represented the side of the demons so Li Qiye was naturally their enemy as well. Now, a demon like Lu Daowei was supporting Li Qiye? "Traitor" seemed like the right word here.

That’s why they threw an aggressive glare at him, no longer considering him as one of their own.

“Sigh, can’t move at all, gotta take a break to catch a breath first.” Li Qiye seemed powerless after reaching the tenth step, heaving for breath while sitting down.

The ones below started laughing at him.

“Hahaha, finally. See, I told you that he can’t go that far with his cultivation. Ten steps is his max.” A demon guffawed.

“Hmph, can’t believe he challenged Senior Brother Huang Ning, what an ignorant fool.” A friend of Huang Ning sneered.

“Get the h.e.l.l out of the sect to save yourself from further embarra.s.sment.” Many demons and some humans showed their disdain. The latter joined in out of jealousy because of Gong Qianyue.

Li Qiye ignored them and took a deep breath. He smiled and said: “Gotta keep going, can’t give up that quickly.”

“Eleven, twelve, thirteen…” He counted. Each step required so much effort. He needed to breathe at least three times before barely moving on.

The ones laughing suddenly stopped since they were caught off guard.

“Hmph, the last struggle, so futile. Let’s see how far you can go.” One disciple snorted.

“He’s at his limit, twenty is the very max.” A demon added.

“Ninety, twenty…” Li Qiye’s hands were on his knees while being drenched in sweat. Another step seemed impossible.

“Dang, too tired, I gotta rest for a bit.” He heaved for breath and sat back down.

“Haha, see, I’m right.” The demon earlier laughed: “He won’t be able to make it past this.”

“Congratulations on your victory, Senior Brother.” A few started flattering Huang Ning before an actual conclusion.

“It’s still too early.” Huang Ning replied but there was already a smile on his face.

The guy looked finished at the twentieth step. His best would most likely be thirty steps and even that was pus.h.i.+ng it. Victory seemed to be up for grab.

The smile turned into a smirk; his eyes flashed with murderous intent.

“Just accept defeat and roll down already, don’t waste everyone’s time.” Another disciple scowled.

“Okay, got some air back, time to continue.” Li Qiye ignored them and said. With that, he aimed for the next step.

“Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three…” He counted each step just like before.

“Okay, let’s see how long you can last for.” One disciple uttered.

“Well, thirty will be as high as he can go, no more. That’s still useless though.” A demon said with scorn.

“Thirty.” Li Qiye made it up to this step and ma.s.saged his waist while lamenting: “Sigh, just eighteen yet already feeling old with aches everywhere. This isn’t good, I need to rest.” He sat down again.

This was his third time resting. The spectators started talking about it.

“I doubt he can stand up or keep going anymore!” One of them a.s.serted.

Li Qiye immediately proved him wrong by standing up and patted his b.u.t.t: “Have to move on, there are still two hundred and seventy steps left.”

“Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three…” The same thing repeated.

The one who spoke earlier turned red, speechless with embarra.s.sment.

“So what, he’s not gonna get to one hundred.” He added.

But by this point, those who made fun of him earlier stopped and became awkward.

The majority of them couldn’t make it to thirty. In fact, some lost after ten steps. How were they qualified to make fun of him?

“Forty.” Li Qiye loudly lamented at this point: “Sigh, my back is about to break, this isn’t good. I guess I have to rest again.”

“What is happening?” The spectators exchanged glances.

“Don’t tell me he’ll get up again?” An older disciple remained skeptical about Li Qiye’s ability to move forward.

Sure enough, Li Qiye got up and started climbing once more, fully embarra.s.sing the guy.

“Fifty.” Li Qiye said.

Someone below immediately interrupted him and shouted: “You’re about to rest again?!”

“Yes, my bones can’t handle this. Gotta take a break.” Li Qiye smiled and sat back down.

Gong Qianyue let out a smile after seeing his appearance. Unfortunately, the crowd wasn’t lucky enough to see how beautiful she was because they were busy with Li Qiye.

“So this actually works?” Someone wondered because none of them stopped to rest like him.

“Are you starting soon?” One disciple asked.

“Enough rest for now.” Li Qiye smilingly responded and went on.

“There’s a problem here, he’s resting while climbing every ten steps. No one else did it, it’s unfair.” A demon protested.

“Idiot.” Qianyue wasn’t the one speaking this time but rather, the elder in charge. He glared at the demon and added: “Try again if you’re not convinced. Do thirty steps and I’ll give you a treasure.”

This demon disciple only made it several steps. He naturally turned red after being chastised.

“You can’t afford to rest up high because of the great suppression. Lingering around will only waste strength. Once you sit down, you won’t be able to stand up at all. Thus, the climb requires taking advantage of continuous momentum.” A First Brother glared at the idiotic demon.

Though they didn’t like Li Qiye, it would be stupid by this point to question him.

***

“Seventy.” Li Qiye made it to seventy in a fascinating manner.

“You’re taking a break again, right? Do you actually need to?” Some skeptical spectators shouted at him.