The people on the Heavenly Ladder immediately began to complain. Bai Zilin, a member of the royal family of the White Tiger Kingdom, almost fell off the Heavenly Ladder several times, but he dared not openly contradict Venerable Canglang anymore. In his heart, he cursed Venerable Canglang to the point of being a bloody mess.
Another half hour passed, and Qi Yu climbed to the lower middle section of the Heavenly Ladder. By then, many people had already fallen to the bottom and were waiting for fewer people to climb. The Heavenly Ladder was much more spacious at the top.
Ahead, a familiar figure sat panting on the steps, her long sword stuck in the cliff beside the Heavenly Ladder. The pale purple butterfly hairpin on her head swayed gently with her breath.
An Rong'er turned around and looked at Qi Yu, who had caught up with her, a strange light flashing in her eyes.
Bai Huan noticed her gaze, frowned, and tugged at Qi Yu's sleeve, saying, "I have a feeling that this An Rong'er has ill intentions."
"It would be strange if she had good intentions." Qi Yu patted her dusty hands and said irritably, "You should stay away from her, or she might sell you out."
Bai Huan tilted her head. Although Qi Yu's words sounded like they were for her own good, she still felt something was off.
Qi Yu looked at Bai Huan's naive eyes and affectionately patted her head. "Be good, don't provoke her."
Seeing their indifference towards her, An Rong'er felt even more displeased. She shrieked, "Yu Shengyan, my father hired you to protect me, and you're just slacking off like this?"
Qi Yu: "...Your father only asked me to look after you a little, how did that become hiring me to protect you?"
"Ha! You were quick to take my father's fifth-tier celestial horse, but when it comes to actually doing something, you dodge the question and talk about other things. How can someone like you have the nerve to come to the Flying Star Sect?"
Someone noticed the words "fifth-order celestial horse" and their gaze towards Qi Yu immediately changed.
"A fifth-tier Pegasus, that must be incredibly expensive. This woman is shameless; she takes the money but doesn't deliver."
"Exactly, exactly, morally corrupt."
Qi Yu: "...Hehe."
She didn't even glance at An Rong'er, and pulled Bai Huan straight past An Rong'er.
Instead of racking your brains to smear me, Miss An should be more worried about whether you can pass the secret realm assessment.
An Rong'er's gaze turned slightly cold as she pulled the long sword stuck in the cliff and followed.
When they reached the upper part of the Heavenly Ladder, many people had already reached the top. Qi Yu was not in a hurry and continued to climb up step by step at a leisurely pace.
Bai Huan was an impatient person. Seeing that Qi Yu was walking too slowly, he began to speed up when he reached the middle of the Heavenly Ladder.
Then, tragically, they were dragged down to the bottom by those above them and had to start climbing all over again.
An Rong'er, on the other hand, followed her at a distance, neither too close nor too far.
Qi Yu felt the malicious gaze behind her and slightly curled the corners of her lips.
She pretended to be tired, stopped, stuck the Sword of Compassion into the cliff, took out a banana from her storage ring with one hand, peeled and ate it, and held the hilt of the sword with the other hand, waiting quietly.
A whooshing sound came from behind her. Using the force of the sword on the cliff, Qi Yu spun around and took a few steps on the cliff to dodge the object that was shot at her, and then landed steadily on the steps.
She swallowed the last bite of banana, squinted at the short arrow that had been shot into the ground, and then looked at the crossbow on An Rong'er's arm.
"If I'd known you'd be dishonest, you could have gotten down here yourself!"
After saying that, she threw the banana peel precisely at An Rong'er's feet, and then kicked An Rong'er's hand that was clinging to the cliff face.
An Rong'er was kicked so hard that her hand slipped, and she stepped on a banana peel, falling from the upper half of the ladder to the bottom.
She fell and got bruised and battered, glaring angrily at Qi Yu from the foot of the mountain.
Qi Yu made a face at her.
At this moment, Bai Zilin, the prince of the White Tiger Kingdom, who had fallen several times and climbed up again, reached Qi Yu's vicinity. Suddenly, he stepped on something, cried out in surprise, slipped, and fell to the bottom, landing right next to An Rong'er.
"Damn it! What is this?! This is the fourth time!"
He fell quite hard; this was the fourth time he had fallen from the Stairway to Heaven. He had been too afraid to climb before, and this time he had climbed carefully and slowly, but he still fell.
Bai Zilin looked up in disbelief, wanting to see what he had stepped on that caused his foot to slip.
"I was walking perfectly fine, how did I suddenly fall!" He turned to the assembled attendants, "Did you all see that?!"
However, his entourage did not participate in the recruitment ceremony, nor did they climb the Heavenly Ladder with him. They stayed at the foot of the mountain and did not see what happened on the Heavenly Ladder. They simply answered meekly that they did not know.
Bai Zilin jumped up and down in a frenzy, cursing a few times, but still had no choice but to admit defeat and continue climbing.
This time, he'll definitely take it one step at a time! In the literal sense!
Meanwhile, Qi Yu, feeling guilty, picked up the banana peel and threw it into his storage ring before turning around and continuing to climb the Heavenly Ladder.
Haha, this is terrible! Littering is definitely not a good thing. Luckily, the prince of the White Tiger Kingdom didn't see her.
Princess Long Ying of the Azure Dragon Kingdom, who witnessed the whole thing, raised an eyebrow, memorized Qi Yu's appearance, and thought to herself that it was interesting.
Although the four countries have temporarily united to fight against the demons, they are still in a competitive relationship at heart, so she is naturally happy to see the people of the other three countries suffer.
...
Stumbling and fumbling, Qi Yu finally climbed the ladder to heaven.
The imposing and magnificent sect finally appeared before her eyes.
By this time, a number of people had already gathered at the entrance of the sect. They were huddled together in twos and threes, whispering among themselves.
A middle-aged man dressed in a gray short-sleeved shirt stood with his arms crossed in the center of the square in front of the sect. He was at least nine feet tall, and although he was dressed in a very conservative manner, his bulging muscles still conveyed a strong sense of power through his clothes.
There was a table in front of him with only a steaming cup of tea on it.
Qi Yu glanced at the people around her and saw that they all had the same anxious expression on their faces.
It seems the spiritual root testing hasn't started yet.
After passing the first test—the Heavenly Ladder—the next step is the second test, which is also the most crucial step in determining whether they can embark on the path of cultivation: testing their spiritual roots.
If one doesn't even possess the lowest level of the five spiritual roots, then one has absolutely no chance of attaining immortality.
Venerable Canglang, who had been bowing his head, suddenly raised it.
"Quiet. When the sun sets, all those who have passed through the Heavenly Ladder will be gathered. I will take you to stay at the Flying Star Sect for the night, and we will test your spiritual roots again tomorrow."
Those who had been chatting in hushed tones immediately fell silent, not daring to provoke the seemingly unapproachable Venerable Canglang.
The plaza in front of the sect became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The silence was broken by an untimely voice.
"Little Smoke~ I'm here! Climbing this damn ladder to heaven is exhausting!"
Qi Yu: "..."
She stared at Bai Huan, who was covered in sweat and dirt, rushing towards her as if she had seen a ghost. Then she turned to look at Venerable Canglang's fierce-looking face and took a few steps back, pretending that she had nothing to do with Bai Huan.
She didn't recognize the person making those screaming noises.
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