In the evening, Xiao Zhan and Liu Yanli finally set foot on the eight-thousandth step one after another, both falling into the illusion.
Their Dao Hearts and determination were far inferior to those of the top three, and it took them over two hours to barely break free from the shackles of the illusion.
Having completely exhausted their mental and physical energy, their legs grew weak. With no strength left to climb further, they had no choice but to stop and slowly descend the spiritual stairs.
At this point, only the final three top geniuses remained on the Heavenly Spirit Stairs.
Ye Ling firmly held the top spot, standing far ahead at the eight thousand seven hundredth step.
Ye Chen followed closely behind, pausing at the eight thousand six hundredth step, while Su Qinghan lagged slightly behind, barely reaching the eight thousand two hundredth step.
The three of them firmly occupied the top three spots of the trial, completely dominating the rest of the competition.
Time flew by, and the final day of the assessment quickly arrived.
By this time, Ye Ling had already reached the eight thousand nine hundredth step, leaving only a final hundred steps before the highly anticipated nine-thousandth step.
Ye Chen paused at the eight thousand eight hundredth step, while Su Qinghan trailed behind at the eight thousand five hundredth step.
The extreme compounding of gravity and the suppression of spiritual energy pressed down on her entire body. Even the usually composed Ye Ling could not help but show signs of strain.
Her clothes were slightly damp from the strong wind and spiritual energy, and the hair on her forehead clung to her cheeks.
Even so, her condition was still far better than that of the two behind her.
Both Ye Chen and Su Qinghan were utterly exhausted, their clothes completely soaked.
With a stronger Dao Heart and physical foundation, Ye Chen was still able to endure, but Su Qinghan's aura had already become weak and unstable. Her body swayed repeatedly, and she was clearly at her absolute limit.
On the final day of the assessment, the crowd of spectators in the square actually surged to several times that of the previous two days, packing the area to the brim.
This was because martial artists from all over Heishui Commandery had heard about the grandeur of this selection and rushed over to watch the event.
In past selections, at most one genius per term could break through the illusion of the eight-thousandth step and stand firmly above it, and sometimes there were none at all.
Moreover, after breaking through the illusion, that person would usually be completely drained of spiritual energy, with no strength left to climb any further.
Yet in this particular term, three geniuses in a row had broken through the eight-thousandth step.
What defied common sense even more was that instead of stopping, these three actually continued to sprint upward. Especially Ye Ling, who was at the very front, was now infinitely close to the nine-thousandth step.
The nine-thousandth step—these words weighed heavily on everyone's minds, stirring up a storm of shock.
In the three hundred years since the creation of the Heavenly Spirit Stairs, only one person in the entire Qingyun Kingdom had ever successfully set foot on the nine-thousandth step.
That person was a once-in-a-century top genius of the Qingyun Kingdom, who had long since left the kingdom to pursue further cultivation in a top sect of the Eastern Territory.
For the next three hundred years, not a single person had been able to touch the barrier of the nine-thousandth step.
But today, a girl of only fifteen was about to replicate the miracle of that peerless genius.
The hundreds of thousands of martial artists in the square held their breath, their gazes locked tightly onto the slender figure at the highest point of the spiritual stairs, filled with anticipation.
On the high platform, the elders of the four major sects were also filled with anticipation.
They knew the illustrious reputation of that legendary genius far better than anyone else present, and they grew increasingly eager for Ye Ling to write the next chapter of this legend.
Among the four major sects, the reason why the Qinglan Sword Sect was able to firmly hold the top spot was not just because the Burning Heaven Martial Academy was in decline.
The core reason was that the genius who had set foot on the nine-thousandth step three hundred years ago had joined the Qinglan Sword Sect back then.
It was that very genius who had propelled the Qinglan Sword Sect from its perennial position at the bottom straight to the top of the four major sects, keeping the other three sects suppressed for three hundred years.
This had left the other three major sects green with envy to this day, wishing constantly that their own sects could produce a prodigy of the same caliber.
At this moment, the elder of the Qinglan Sword Sect showed a look of determination.
At first, she had only considered Ye Ling a genius with excellent swordplay talent. But having witnessed her journey up to this point, she finally saw clearly just how terrifying the girl's aptitude truly was.
No one in the world understood the astonishing weight of a top genius better than the Qinglan Sword Sect.
That person three hundred years ago had, by her own efforts, sustained the Qinglan Sword Sect's prosperity for over three hundred years.
And now, they were about to welcome a second monster of the same level. A genius of this caliber could absolutely not be handed over to other sects.
The elder clenched a voice-transmission talisman tightly in her palm, her heart surging with excitement.
She had already sent a message to the sect to contact the sect master. As long as Ye Ling truly stepped past the nine-thousandth step, the sect master would immediately appear to recruit her—no, not recruit, but snatch her away.
The sect master of the Qinglan Sword Sect was already on the way to Heishui Commandery.
Meanwhile, high up on the spiritual stairs, Ye Ling looked up at the remaining steps above her.
She faintly sensed that the steps beyond the nine-thousandth step were illusory and hazy, as if they did not actually exist.
However, she did not mind. Her greatest harvest from this climb up the spiritual stairs had already been secured.
She had broken through. She had already reached the Houtian Eleventh Layer.
The reason her climbing speed had been steady and unhurried before was that she was intentionally using the gravity suppression and pure spiritual energy of the spiritual stairs to temper herself and solidify her cultivation.
She had originally been only a step away from the Houtian Eleventh Layer. Nourished by the abundant and surging spiritual energy of the spiritual stairs, she was able to naturally break through the barrier.
Following her breakthrough, her aura became increasingly refined and heavy. Most of the exhaustion and strain from the climb vanished, and her entire state of being was completely revitalized.
With less than a day left before the end of the assessment, Ye Ling immediately decided to speed up. She lifted her foot and dashed toward the steps above.
One step, two steps, five steps, ten steps... Her climbing speed grew faster and faster, crossing dozens of steps in the blink of an eye.
The crowd below and the elders on the high platform were all dumbfounded, gasps of shock rising one after another.
“Heavens! She can actually still climb so fast! What kind of monster is she?”
“Does such terrifying spiritual suppression and gravity have absolutely no effect on her?”
Some participants who had managed to climb to the six-thousandth step also widened their eyes, their hearts filled with shock.
Only those who had experienced it firsthand could truly comprehend how terrifying Ye Ling was.
“This is just too ridiculous. It completely exceeds the realm of ordinary geniuses!”
At this moment, Su Qinghan, who was still struggling at the eight thousand five hundredth step of the spiritual stairs, looked up with great difficulty at the green-clad figure moving faster and faster.
Her entire body was trembling, and her spiritual energy was nearly depleted. Every step upward felt like a struggle against heaven and earth.
Yet that person, a girl a year younger than her, was actually able to speed up.
She watched helplessly as Ye Ling climbed steadily from the eight thousand nine hundredth step without pausing for even a moment, as if the gravity of the spiritual stairs meant nothing to her.
Su Qinghan bit her lip, her eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions. She herself struggled even to stand firmly, yet the other girl still had the strength to sprint.
It seemed the gap was far larger than she had imagined.
Higher up, Ye Chen also looked up at that back.
His face was already pale, and the veins on his forehead bulged slightly; he was clearly close to his limit as well.
But his expression was surprisingly calm. There was no surprise, no resentment, only a quiet acceptance of the extraordinary.
This clan sister had shocked him so many times that he had already grown accustomed to it.
He watched silently for a moment, then withdrew his gaze and continued to steady his own steps.
The 8,980th step, 8,990th step, 8,995th step, 8,999th step... In an instant, Ye Ling stood before the nine-thousandth step.
With only one final step remaining, she would set foot on a height that no one had reached in three hundred years.
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