Amidst the Master of Xiaoyao Pavilion's proud laughter, Qin An continued his astonishingly fast ascent.
In mere moments, he had reached the thirtieth stone step.
"Too fast!"
Gasps of astonishment rose from the square, everyone impressed by Qin An's climbing speed.
"Look! Xiao Lin, Wu Yan, and Ling Tianyu have all given up and are coming down."
"Even He Houfeng has given up."
Suddenly, Tianyuan Sect disciples in the square cried out.
At this moment, six of the Tianyuan Sect's eight genius disciples on the Heaven Ascension Ladder had begun to abandon the attempt.
Among them, He Houfeng had climbed to the thirty-fifth step.
Ling Tianyu, Xiao Lin, Wu Yan, and two other Water Peak disciples had all reached their limit at the thirty-fourth step.
Only Long Yingying and Li Chaofan from the Tianyuan Sect's genius disciples were still continuing upward.
Li Chaofan had reached the thirty-seventh step but was starting to redden in the face, clearly in great difficulty. It seemed he had reached his limit.
Long Yingying, however, had already reached the fortieth step and was still climbing higher! This drew another wave of astonished gasps.
"Senior Sister Long, you can do it! Senior Sister Long, you can do it!…"
The Tianyuan Sect disciples in the square began to shout encouragements.
After all, with elite disciples from the other three great sects now participating, this competition had effectively become a contest among the four major sects!
Right now, the Tianyuan Sect disciple Long Yingying had the best performance in the ladder climb, so the entire sect, high and low, pinned their hopes on her.
They wished for Long Yingying to perform excellently, suppressing the elite disciples from the other three sects and winning back some face for the Tianyuan Sect.
"Sect Leader Shi, it seems this female disciple is the one with the best martial arts talent in your Tianyuan Sect," the Master of Xiaoyao Pavilion said smugly. "However, she is still far behind compared to Qin An."
"Pavilion Master, it's still a bit early to draw conclusions," Shi Zongyang replied, his expression somewhat grim.
"Haha, then we shall wait and see," laughed the Master of Xiaoyao Pavilion.
Ever since accepting Qin An as his personal disciple, the Pavilion Master had been immensely satisfied with Qin An's martial arts talent, seizing every opportunity to show him off to outsiders.
"Elder Du, I really admire you," Elder Ding from the Xiaoyao Pavilion suddenly spoke up, her tone laced with obvious mockery. "You actually recruited Ye Yunfei. To only be able to climb a single step—such martial arts talent is something only your Tianyuan Sect would be willing to shelter. Tsk tsk…"
"Fortunately, I didn't recruit him at the time," Elder Zhuo from the Zhencang Sect also revealed a jeering expression. "Otherwise, I'd be waiting to become a laughingstock now."
"Back in Yuanyue City, I also extended an olive branch to Ye Yunfei," Elder Wu from the Ziyang Sect chimed in with a sneer. "Thankfully, he didn't choose our Ziyang Sect."
At this moment, Ye Yunfei remained stuck on the very first stone step. He had become the butt of the entire audience's jokes!
"Sect Leader, I suggest we immediately send someone to drive Ye Yunfei down!" Luo Fengyang suddenly called out. "We can't let him linger on the Heaven Ascension Ladder any longer, lest others keep making fun of us!"
"That's right," Su Deqing also snorted coldly. "Let him come down. He's completely disgracing our Tianyuan Sect! Du Changqing, see now? This is the so-called genius you recruited! What else do you have to say?"
The other higher-ups of the Tianyuan Sect also voiced their opinions, demanding that the Sect Leader give the order for Ye Yunfei to leave the Heaven Ascension Ladder immediately to avoid further embarrassment. After all, there were so many outsiders present.
"Don't worry about Ye Yunfei. Let him stay there," the Hidden Elder suddenly spoke. "If people want to watch a joke, let them."
Hearing the Hidden Elder's words, the Tianyuan Sect higher-ups could only drop the matter. Within the Tianyuan Sect, the Hidden Elder was highly esteemed and respected, his status even surpassing Sect Leader Shi Zongyang's. No one dared lightly oppose his will.
It was right at this moment.
"Look! Senior Sister Long has climbed to the forty-fifth step!"
"Keep it up, Senior Sister Long!"
Cheers suddenly erupted from the Tianyuan Sect disciples.
"Yingying has done well," Shi Zongyang said, somewhat excited.
The Hidden Elder also nodded with a smile.
However...
Moments later, Qin An caught up to Long Yingying in long strides, effortlessly climbing to the fiftieth step!
At that time, Long Yingying was still on the forty-eighth stone step.
Instantly, the entire audience was stunned.
*Swoosh!*
Under the crowd's stunned gazes, Qin An climbed one more step, reaching the fifty-first stone step!
The fifty-first step was shrouded in mist and fog; it was impossible to see clearly with the naked eye. One needed to rely on the crystal mirrors placed beside the ladder.
Thus, everyone's eyes turned toward the crystal mirror corresponding to the fifty-first step.
There, they saw Qin An standing on the step, hands clasped behind his back, expression aloof, his robes dancing in the wind with a crisp rustling sound. He exuded the demeanor of a true master!
At the same time, in the exact instant Qin An's form stepped onto the fifty-first stone step...
On the very first step.
Ye Yunfei's body suddenly trembled slightly. His eyes flashed with intense delight.
"Finally succeeded!"
Ye Yunfei slowly let out a breath.
After most of the day's effort, Ye Yunfei had finally succeeded in imprinting his spiritual will mark upon the ladder's control hub.
In other words, now, this Heaven Ascension Ladder had been subdued and controlled by Ye Yunfei!
Suddenly—
*Rumble…*
The entire Heaven Ascension Ladder began to tremble slightly.
*Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Five great roars sounded simultaneously.
In the sky high above, five beams of light of different colors appeared, descending from the heavens, dazzling and brilliant, arrayed around the ladder, appearing supremely mystical.
These five light beams represented the Five Elements powers respectively.
This phenomenon manifested precisely after Ye Yunfei had refined the ladder, indicating that the Heaven Ascension Ladder once again had an owner!
However, everyone in the square believed this phenomenon had appeared because of Qin An.
Gazing at the five colored light beams descending from the high sky, the entire square erupted in a furor.
All eyes fixed on Qin An with shock and awe.
At this moment, Qin An was the center of attention! The focus of the entire arena!
"Haha, excellent! My fine disciple has actually stirred such a phenomenon!" the Master of Xiaoyao Pavilion couldn't help but laugh heartily. "A Heavenly Spirit Body, favored by the heavens—how can ordinary talents compare! Elder Ding, how fortunate that you spared no cost to bring Qin An back to me back in Yuanyue City!"
"Of course," Elder Ding from the Xiaoyao Pavilion declared proudly, at the same time casting a mocking glance toward Elder Du. "After all, our Xiaoyao Pavilion only accepts geniuses, never trash!"
"Something seems off," the Tianyuan Sect's Hidden Elder murmured, a trace of confusion appearing in his eyes. "Logically, merely ascending to the fifty-first step shouldn't be enough to trigger such a phenomenon. What's really going on here? Could this Heaven Ascension Ladder have developed some problem?"
At this point, standing on the fifty-first step, Qin An gazed at the five brilliantly colored light beams descending from the sky around his step and felt supremely smug.
"Haha! Ye Yunfei, you piece of trash! Now you finally understand the difference between us, don't you!" he looked down toward the ground and laughed loudly. "I am a dragon soaring in the high heavens. And you are merely an ant crawling on the ground. I will forever be a being you can only look up to!"
"Worthy of being looked up to? Merely a Heavenly Spirit Body? You think too highly of yourself."
Ye Yunfei lifted his head, a trace of a contemptuous smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
Just now, Ye Yunfei had been wholly focused on refining this Heaven Ascension Ladder, so he had turned a deaf ear to all the taunts. But now it was different.
Now, Ye Yunfei had successfully gained control of this Heaven Ascension Ladder.
Ye Yunfei's nature was not accustomed to silently enduring. Since someone had already stepped on his head, actively provoked him, and was hopping about so triumphantly…
Then Ye Yunfei didn't mind reaching out to slap that person across the face, delivering a stinging, humiliating blow!