"boom"

Just as Qin Feng stepped down a step, a thunderclap suddenly rang out.

At the same time, the surrounding environment changed, turning into a pitch-black night sky.

Lightning flashed and thunder roared, with countless bolts of lightning raining down from the sky.

Qin Feng's expression changed drastically, and he immediately condensed a layer of spiritual energy to protect himself.

However, the spiritual energy shield was no match for the lightning and shattered instantly.

Countless bolts of lightning struck Qin Feng one after another, instantly turning his clothes into ashes, leaving him only with a pair of shorts.

His skin was torn open and bloody within moments.

Qin Feng was in excruciating pain, but he could only grit his teeth and endure it, while simultaneously circulating his spiritual energy to continuously condense a spiritual energy shield.

Although the spiritual energy shield is no match for lightning, it still has some effect and can block some of the lightning.

About a minute later, the lightning disappeared, and the environment returned to the Heavenly Ladder.

Qin Feng's skin was torn open, blood gushing out, a truly gruesome sight.

"What kind of place is this?"

Qin Feng looked frustrated; this Heavenly Ladder was just too terrifying.

Gravity, illusion, eerie space, sword energy, lightning.

What will happen next? It's completely unpredictable.

He took a deep breath, then sat down cross-legged, took out healing pills, and ate them to heal his injuries.

His injuries looked serious, but only the external wounds were severe; the internal injuries were only minor.

An hour later.

Qin Feng's external injuries have healed, and his internal injuries are also not serious.

He took out a set of clothes from his storage ring, changed into them, and continued climbing the Heavenly Ladder.

He had expected there to be more unknown and terrifying methods to come, but after climbing several steps, nothing happened.

Even gravity disappeared.

"Could it be that we passed the test?"

Qin Feng muttered something to himself, then quickened his pace.

Soon, he emerged from the clouds and reached the platform at the top of the Heavenly Ladder.

The platform is enormous, stretching as far as the eye can see.

In the center of the platform stands a magnificent golden palace with nine floors.

Each floor is about fifty meters high.

There were no divine sense restrictions here, so Qin Feng released his divine sense to scan the area and saw King Xia and Ling Xueyan standing outside the palace gate.

The palace gates were protected by a very powerful barrier, which the two of them were unlikely to be able to break.

at the same time.

King Xia and Ling Xueyan both noticed Qin Feng's arrival and rushed towards him simultaneously.

Both of them were incredibly fast, and in just a few flashes they were in front of Qin Feng.

King Xia looked at the celestial ladder below the clouds and asked, "Where are your men?"

Qin Feng glanced at King Xia. "Speak your mind, or shut up!"

King Xia frowned slightly and said, "We want to continue our cooperation!"

Qin Feng grinned. "If you want to cooperate, you'd better show some sincerity first!"

Xia Wang and Ling Xueyan exchanged a glance, both with wry smiles. Was Qin Feng going to extort them again?

Ling Xueyan pondered for a moment, then looked directly at Qin Feng and asked, "Don't you want to enter the Immortal's Cave?"

"You haven't obtained any treasures along the way, have you?"

"To be honest, we didn't get it either!"

"Therefore, I am certain that there must be many treasures inside that palace, and it is even possible that there are elixirs of immortality."

Qin Feng glanced at Ling Xueyan and said teasingly, "What do you mean by all this? What do I have to do with you?"

Ling Xueyan frowned slightly. "Qin Feng, if you don't join forces with us, you can forget about entering the palace."

"Heh, you're just being presumptuous, aren't you?" Qin Feng scoffed. "I have four maids, and with them, breaking that restriction will be a piece of cake."

"Is that so?" Ling Xueyan sneered. "The four of them are indeed quite strong, but not enough to help you break the restriction."

"Besides, with me and King Xia here, even if you could break the restriction, would you actually succeed?"

"Instead of wasting time with us, we should cooperate!"

Qin Feng gave a half-smile. "Are you talking nonsense?"

"Remember when we collaborated before? You promised that we would keep 80% of the treasures we obtained after entering the Immortal's Cave."

"And what about you?"

"You must have obtained quite a few medicinal herbs from the herb garden before, right?"

"Why don't you take them out and give them to me?"

"You can't trust people like you who don't keep their word even once."

Ling Xueyan was so angry she felt like vomiting blood. She had indeed said those words, but that was before Qin Feng had extorted so many spirit stones from her.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated at the time, it was definitely invalidated.

"Qin Feng, don't go too far!"

"You've already taken so many of my spirit stones, and you haven't mentioned it since, so they're worthless!"

Qin Feng chuckled. "Who said it was invalid?"

"Fine, I'm too lazy to argue with you!"

"If you can't offer me something that will move me, then let's just keep dragging this on!"

"I'd like to see who can outlast whom."

Ling Xueyan's face instantly darkened, and she glared at Qin Feng, her killing intent palpable. "You're forcing me to take action!"

Qin Feng narrowed his eyes, staring intently at Ling Xueyan's face. "To be honest, I still can't figure out what level you're at?"

"I've wanted to try this for a long time, so are you going to grant my wish now?"

Ling Xueyan sneered. "Don't be arrogant. If King Xia and I join forces, we can even take down a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator!"

"Don't tell me you're just a mere Nascent Soul cultivator!"

"Qin Feng, I suggest you cooperate with us!"

"Continuing to delay will not do either you or us any good."

"The portal to the Immortal Ruins has been open for so long that powerful individuals from all over the world will surely come upon hearing the news."

"Many people are probably already on their way and will arrive at the Immortal's Cave soon."

Qin Feng curled his lip dismissively. "So what if they come? What does it have to do with me?"

"Anyway, my cultivation technique is top-notch, and I have a considerable reserve of spirit stones!"

"I still have an inexhaustible supply of spiritual herbs, enough for me to cultivate to the Ascension Realm!"

"So whatever is inside that palace, I'm not very interested."

Ling Xueyan's face turned ashen; she felt like her lungs were about to explode with anger at Qin Feng.

He's completely unyielding, neither gentle nor forceful. What can she do with someone like that?

King Xia sighed softly, somewhat helplessly. "Name your price. As long as it's within my budget, I won't haggle!"

"Is that right?" Qin Feng smiled. "That's the attitude you need when asking for cooperation, understand?"

"How about this, give me half of what's inside your storage necklaces and storage rings!"

"Don't try to bargain. If you do, I'll refuse to cooperate!"

King Xia and Ling Xueyan exchanged a glance, both feeling utterly helpless.

They had no choice but to decisively take off their storage necklaces and storage rings and throw them to Qin Feng.

"Smart, you know I don't trust you!"

Qin Feng smiled and then examined Ling Xueyan's storage necklace.

He estimated that this woman was definitely wealthier than the King of Xia.