"While you are climbing, you will be relentlessly attacked by attacks made by various weapon auras, and to resist them, you need to have reached the intent phase of a weapon. If not, you wonât be able to resist and will end up like the last person."
The woman said calmly, and several of the participantsâ expressions turned ugly and pale.
"The higher your comprehension, the higher you can climb the stairs and the higher the ranking you will get. And like the previous round, the highest is A Rank."
"Now, if you understand, you can start," the woman said as she gestured for them to begin climbing the stairs.
As soon as the words left the womanâs mouth, everyone hurried towards the staircase.
Wu Jing saw everyone start walking up one by one, so she also took her first step. As soon as she placed her foot on the second stair, she felt a crushing pressure trying to force her onto her knees and a prickling sensation trying to pierce her skin.
"What the fuck?" Wu Jing cursed. Some people noticed her struggle and began to mock her.
"Isnât it the princess? Looks like she is just so-so," someone sneered. Wu Jing gritted her teeth as she tried to resist the pressure.
Tang Ning and Tang Nian, who were about to climb up, also noticed Wu Jing and raised their eyebrows.
âIs it really that difficult?â Tang Ning frowned.
âImpossible. The others in front of her have weaker cultivation,â Tang Nian thought.
âNo... wait, this idiot forgot to coat her body with intent,â Tang Nian realized.
"Huff... Huff..." Wu Jing panted heavily, beads of sweat rolling down her forehead as she hurriedly covered her body with sword intent to resist falling to her knees and getting sliced into pieces.
As soon as she did this, the crushing pressure vanished immediately. Wu Jing wiped the sweat from her forehead and stood up once again.
"Damn, I nearly got crushed," Wu Jing said as she stood up and started walking up the stairs. This time, she did not feel any pressure at all. It seemed like it did not exist in the first place, seeing how easily she was climbing up.
Wang Ming, who saw this, smiled and nodded before resuming his climb. But not everyone was having an easy time climbing the stairs.
"Ahhhh!" As Wang Ming continued walking, he heard someone shout. He turned and saw a young man struggling to climb to the 13th step from the 12th step. Despite his body being covered with sword intent, he looked to be the first person who was having difficulty. The young manâs face was drenched in sweat, as if he had just run a marathon or been splashed with a bucket of water.
The man shouted desperately while slowly lifting his leg, clearly struggling to take another step. His face turned bright red as he gritted his teeth and used all his might. The crowd watched in pure disdainâif he couldnât even climb past the 14th stair, it meant his sword intent was very low. They assumed it was half-intent instead of full.
On the staircase, the stronger your intent, the less pressure you felt and the higher you could climb.
"FAIL."
Wang Ming saw the sign appear above the young manâs head. Suddenly, an invisible and powerful force hurled him backward, and he plummeted straight back to the starting line.
Tap... Tap... Tap...
Ninth step, tenth step, eleventh step.
Wang Ming easily climbed over ten steps without any effort and without breaking a sweat.
Twelfth step. Thirteenth step.
âThis was the step where the first guy got flung out,â Wang Ming thought, pausing for a second before taking the next step.
Fourteenth step.
Shing!
Wang Ming did not feel anything at all and kept walking. He looked ahead and saw many were already ahead of him.
Wang Ming shook his head and continued climbing until he reached the 51st stair, where people began paying attention to him.
"Hey, look! That guy reached the 51st stair but doesnât look affected."
"No, I havenât seen him before. Does he belong to one of the top families?"
"He looks young, and by the ease with which heâs climbing, Iâd guess he has a high weapon comprehension. If he were from the top eight families, heâd be well known."
"Could he be a genius from some hidden clan, or maybe even of commoner birth?"
"Hah, you filth sure love to imagine things. How could someone like him be a commoner? He must be from a noble family like meâmaybe a secluded one."
"Heavens, look! Heâs just one step away from reaching the 60th stair, where the genius of the Xu Family, Xu Zhang, stopped."
Wang Ming ignored all the chatter and stepped onto the 60th stair, raising an eyebrow as he looked at the man.
âWasnât this the bastard who mocked Wu Jing a few moments ago?â Wang Ming clicked his tongue. The sound did not escape the young manâs notice, and his expression darkened.
âWasnât this guy a representative of the Wu Family? How did this bastard get here? I wonât let him get ahead of me, or itâll be a mockery,â Xu Zhang grimaced as he heard people comparing him to Wang Ming. He couldnât confront Wu Jing openly because of her background, but he was confident he could threaten Wang Ming since the latter didnât seem to belong to any noble family.
"Hey, bastardâdonât you dare take a step forward. Youâre from the lower floor, right? Iâve seen your face. If you take another step, Iâll make sure the Xu Family hunts you down like a rat," Xu Zhang hissed in a whisper. Wang Ming stopped, a mocking look appearing on his face.
"Trash," Wang Ming sneered, and continued up the stairs. He was sure he had just made an enemy of the Xu Familyâjudging by Xu Zhangâs red faceâbut was he worried? No. He was confident he could wipe the entire family out.
Moreover, he also had the backing of the Wu Family and was sure even the Min and Tang families would support him. Even the Xu Family Patriarch, if smart, wouldnât meddle with him. This was just a minor disturbance before he resumed climbing again.