Deities: Starting From Goblins

Chapter 678: Chapter 414: Heavenly Ladder_2

Holy Daoist spoke without submission or arrogance, erupting with an intense combat intent. A mere glance from his eyes instantly instilled fear in these people. After all, Holy Daoist was the youngest among the Saints and the strongest of them all in combat power. No one wished to engage in a fight to the death with him.

At this point, the remaining twenty or so people stepped out to mediate, “Stop arguing. Even though there’s only one opportunity and everyone competes individually, ascending the Heavenly Ladder requires cooperation. When we actually face the opportunity, it won’t be too late to stand against each other.”

“That’s true. What if what’s atop the Heavenly Ladder isn’t an opportunity, or if it requires solving another enigma? Without Logan, who among the rest of you has the intellect?”

Cloud Sky Taoist, seeing the tension and logically speaking, managed to halt the killing intent of those individuals with his words. Indeed, his argument made sense. If they are faced with another puzzle to solve upon reaching the opportunity, like the previous challenges, without Logan, they might be trapped for decades again.

Furthermore, upon careful consideration, Logan was just a bit more intelligent. He himself was of the Dominator Realm; how could he possibly stand against the dozens of Saints? Once Logan’s utility was exhausted, there would be no harm in striking him down then. For now, they might as well make use of him.

Although Logan had personally claimed that he had used an array to slay two Great Saints, saving both the Central Region and the Western Wasteland, these dozens of Saints still felt his claims were greatly exaggerated. How could an Array Master, no matter how strong, bridge the gap in realms with an array?

Using arrays to compete across levels could work, but the most it could do was target a Half-step Saint Seat. A Quasi-Saint grasps the Space Law, not to mention a true Saint. They would not be trapped by a mere array.

The decisive word came with a wave of the hand to dismiss everyone, “Let’s first figure out how to ascend the Heavenly Ladder. There must be at least nine hundred steps, and it likely increases as one climbs. Could there be another mystery to it?”

“We should probably just keep climbing. Unlike the previous challenges, I believe it’s purely a test of perseverance, or perhaps a matter of who survives to the end.”

Cloud Sky Taoist offered his view. Perhaps the Powerhouse above had already foreseen all this, knowing that countless people would vie for the opportunity. So the final challenge might just be to select one individual—whoever was the strongest would naturally seize it.

Logan had been silent the whole time, but he had been watching everyone’s expressions closely. Originally, his impression of the dozens of Saints had been acceptable, but from the moment they harbored the intent to kill him, if they ran into trouble later on, Logan would certainly not help.

Using any means necessary to vie for the opportunity could be acceptable, but one must fight with the honor and openness exemplified by Holy Daoist and Wexler Daoist in the battle for the opportunity, rather than pre-emptively banding together against him. In any case, Logan’s filter for seeing them as Strong Ones had dissipated.

Holy Daoist glanced at Logan and said, “Don’t take what happened just now to heart. What do you think about the Heavenly Ladder? Surely it’s not like the previous challenges that require solving a puzzle, right?”

“Someone tried flying up just now but was struck down by the Thunder and Lightning Laws; it seems that, to that Powerhouse, everyone must ascend via the steps.”

Logan replied with a light smile, his words neither light nor ponderous. In reality, he couldn’t discern what the actual mystery of this challenge was. He couldn’t calculate everything, and no matter how clever his mind was, at least a considerable amount of clues were necessary.

“Then let’s not overthink it!” Holy Daoist waved his hand, perhaps just as the others had said earlier—the previous stages tested enlightenment, while this last one was purely about strength.

The group began their ascent of the Heavenly Ladder. Everyone didn’t want to lag behind, but no one wanted to be the pathfinder either. After a long debate, Holy Daoist grew impatient and chose to go up first, with others following close behind in eager pursuit.

Logan naturally ended up as the last one, although he didn’t mind. This final challenge was not simple, securing the opportunity might mean a battle with slim odds of survival. If it was as easy as just climbing the ladder, there would be no need for setting it up at all—the opportunity could have been laid out plainly instead.

What exactly was that Powerhouse testing? Logan pondered for a long time. Given the first three challenges, it was a mere test of intellect. If the Powerhouse only wanted an intelligent person to receive the opportunity, Logan thought that would be too far-fetched. Generally, a legacy was left to seek out an individual with extraordinary talent.

Moreover, in this Ancient Secret Realm, there seemed to be no danger, just continuously solving the levels, with hardly any casualties. A typical Secret Land would have Demon Beasts and the like, so Logan always felt that perhaps this final challenge was the real test.

Of course, this was just Logan’s own speculation. As for what might be encountered on the Heavenly Ladder, he could only take it one step at a time. Being a thorough person, he took out a million Spirit Stones and swiftly outlined a Space Formation where he stood.

He then caught up with the dozens of others. In case of danger on the Heavenly Ladder, he would transport back immediately. That was his safeguard and source of confidence.

At first, everything was normal, but after taking a dozen or so steps, the lead Holy Daoist’s pace became heavy, and his complexion turned somewhat pale. The dozens of people following him were puzzled, wondering why the Holy Daoist, who had been fine just a moment ago, suddenly slowed down so much?

When they got closer to the Holy Daoist, they also understood in an instant, “Oh no, there’s some kind of inexplicable oppressive force… that even prevents us from using our Realm and power.”

“We’ve only taken a dozen or so steps, and there are at least a few hundred more to go on the Heavenly Ladder. What do we do next? What if the pressure keeps increasing!”

Everyone’s expression changed, including Logan who was at the back. He felt an overwhelming pressure that made it difficult to move an inch.

And unlike the dozens of people ahead, they all had the strength of the Holy See and could resist to some extent. He was just at the Dominator Realm, far too lacking, but he had come this far; he couldn’t just turn back now, could he? So, despite the struggle, Logan continued to ascend.

After another dozen steps, the leading Holy Daoist couldn’t lift his feet. The terrifying oppressive force and the power of the Great Law made him feel like an ant, and the dozens of people behind him even more so. If it weren’t for their limited lifespans, they would have wanted to leave immediately.

Logan’s mind raced, considering if the pressure of the Heavenly Ladder was so intense, what was the intent of the Powerhouse who created it? Was it to prevent anyone from seizing the opportunity? With even the dozens of Holy See before him struggling to advance, it seemed that the chance would remain unclaimed forever.

And they had only completed less than one percent of the journey. Logan looked at the towering Heavenly Ladder, heaved a sigh, and thought there must be a trick to it that their group hadn’t found. They might not need brute force to ascend, perhaps it would be like the previous levels.

“One step, one law. Could it be that we need to feel the Law?” said the Holy Daoist at the front, suddenly realizing that each step seemed different, with Runes on them.

As he cultivated Space Law, his pressure significantly reduced whenever he was in front of steps with Space Law Runes, allowing him to step up with ease.

Upon hearing this, others tried and showed a trace of joy, revealing that the Holy Daoist had been right. Indeed, the steps of the Heavenly Ladder were constructed with different Laws.

However, their happiness lasted only a few moments before their brows furrowed again, “Every step represents a Law, but even though we’re all at the level of the Holy See, we are only focused on one or two Laws. With thousands of Laws, how can one possibly overcome these hundreds of steps?”

To the group, it meant there were only one or two steps that were easy to take, the rest posed an immense pressure. The Holy Daoist’s discovery seemed not very useful.

“Indeed, what is the meaning of this Heavenly Ladder?” Wexler Daoist lamented. Unless one reached a Realm above the Holy See, it was impossible to cultivate many Laws.

Logan was the most surprised of all. If everything was related to Laws, and he, at the Dominator Realm, knew nothing about them, was it possible the Powerhouse never considered those below the level of the Holy See for this opportunity? However, that didn’t seem realistic at all.