“Of course I have to take a break. Young ones, remember to take good care of your back or it’ll be bad in the future.” Li Qiye smiled and sat back down.

People made fun of him at the start for resting. Some thought that he wouldn’t be able to stand back up. Now, the repeated act made them grow numb.

“So what is actually going on?” Someone quietly asked.

“Maybe he knows how to climb the steps correctly? A secret or something like that.” Those who didn’t like him came up with an excuse. They didn’t want to accept that he was doing it using his own abilities.

“That’s one possibility. There’s no way he can get that high while being an Iron Skin. He found a hole in the steps, or is it that you get to rest every ten steps? That’s the best time to reco-...” A demon snorted.

“Feel free to try.” Zhang Yue coldly interrupted: “Since you’re so certain about this, start climbing so everyone can see how capable you are.”

“I…” The demon panicked right away. In reality, he was only speaking nonsense while trying to come up with an excuse to deny Li Qiye’s achievement.

“Go.” Zhang Yue’s eyes turned colder; his pressure intensified.

As the lord of Jade Bird, this eruption of power from him made the disciple shudder with fear as if a wolf was glaring at him.

He didn’t dare to disobey and walked up the steps. He copied Li Qiye and sat down after ten steps.

He barely made it above this during his own examination. Now, once he sat down, he couldn’t get up again.

“Aaa!” He roared and used all of his energy to stop the suppression but it was useless.

Everyone saw this and realized that there was no such thing as a flaw in these steps. Momentum was crucial during the climb. Stopping would only increase the pressure.

The disciple eventually went down the steps; his face as red as can be. He called out Li Qiye earlier only to humiliate himself before his peers.

This proved that Li Qiye didn’t need to rest at all. So why did he stop each time?

One disciple eventually understood - he was merely playing with them.

At the start of his attempt, so many disrespected him vocally. Alas, they didn’t even realize that he was mocking them. Some continued to laugh during the first thirty steps or so.

Who was the fool here?

Zhang Yue and the elders saw through this long ago. They knew that he was just toying with the others.

However, they didn’t know how he was withstanding the pressure given his shallow cultivation. The steps were just fine. It had no hole and flaws to take advantage of.

By this point, they thought that he was completely unaffected despite being up high already. Li Qiye was definitely doing something special beyond their discernment.

“There’s no word to describe how devilish this brat is.” One elder eventually concluded.

“... Ninety-one, ninety-two, ninety-three, ninety-four…” A group loudly counted beneath the steps.

In the beginning, only the children from Liu supported him. As he moved up, the jeers stopped completely.

Who would dare to laugh at him at this point? They themselves couldn’t get that high. Doing so would be idiotic.

Some became nervous, especially the demons on the side of Huang Ning. Li Qiye’s victory would be the same as him slapping them in the face.

Huang Ning had an ugly expression. He realized that Li Qiye could really beat him. He would lose a precious treasure on top of being humiliated in front of Qianyue.

He was in second place with ninety-nine steps finished. This made him stand out among the crowd and caused quite a stir.

He hoped that this would be enough to win her attention and favor. Moreover, beating Li Qiye meant banis.h.i.+ng the guy out of Divine Black. His achievements during the trials might also impress her.

Alas, he could see his dream crumbling as Li Qiye drew closer to the ninety-ninth step.

“Ninety-nine!” Everyone shouted with astonishment.

Li Qiye was now even with Huang Ning. Just one more step and Huang Ning would become the loser.

“Sigh, so tired, one more time.” Li Qiye broke the rule this time and stopped.

Everyone stared at him and patiently waited.

However, he took a while this time around, swinging his legs back and forth while sitting on the step.

“Sigh, my legs are not listening to me.” He ma.s.saged his legs and lamented.

“Junior Brother Li, if you’re having a tough time, no need to force it. It’s already amazing that you have it this far, I have nothing but admiration for you.” Huang Ning spoke, acting very familiar.

“The suppression of these steps is no joke, forcing yourself might end up with lasting damages to your dao foundation.” He spoke as if he cared about Li Qiye’s wellbeing. In reality, he only wanted Li Qiye to stop so that it would be a tie instead of a loss.

Li Qiye didn’t answer him. He smiled at Qianyue and said: “Girl, my weary legs are not listening to me anymore, come ma.s.sage your Young Master?”

This request naturally stunned all the listeners.