The Stairway to Heaven was a mess. Not only were the successors of the four Saint families heavily injured, those students of the four Saint families who took the Saint Academy’s examination were as well.
Some of them were even in critical condition. They could not stand up and others had to come to carry them down the stairway.
Of the four Saint families, there were naturally some top masters. But how could they compete against Luo Shuihan and Duanmu Xingling?
Luo Shuihan was extremely powerful. She beat down and knocked down more than 40 talented students off the Stairway to Heaven.
It was the strength of the Saintly Being. Her situation was less vigorous than the situation of Zhang Ruochen and the four successors of Saint families, but no one dared to underestimate her.
Of course, Zhang Ruochen shocked them the most.
With one man’s power, he defeated the joint attack of the four successors of Saint families. Even a Saintly Being could not easily fight them off.
“So amazing! He can even use a martial technique as incredible as the Divine Dragon Transformation. No wonder that Bu Qianfan regards him as an enemy. He’s really powerful!”
“With his strength, which stair could he climb to?”
“He can probably climb to the 70th level.”
“With his qualification, it won’t be difficult for him to climb to the 80th level of the Stairway.”
“How could it be possible? Even a Saintly Being can’t climb to the 80th level. The pressure of the Saint Power is unimaginable.”
…
It was extremely difficult for a ordinary genius to climb to the 30th level of the Stairway. Only the Saintly Beings could reach the 70th level.
It seemed that Zhang Ruochen was stronger than the Saintly Beings. So people were all looking forward to seeing which level he could climb to.
However, Zhang Ruochen stepped down the Stairway, denied all the expectation of those students and people of Half-Saint Class. He did not continue to climb.
Anyway, I have already left my name on the Jade Tablet. I have passed the first examination. Why should I continue to climb up the Stairway?
Although Zhang Ruochen wanted to keep a low profile, the war would make him famous in the Eastern Region and he would become the newly emerging God’s favored son.
Many of God’s favored daughters swooned at Zhang Ruochen after seeing his upstanding and firm figure. They looked at him as if he was a god in flesh.
He fought against the four successors of Saint families and beat them down with his own power. In the whole Eastern Region, how many could do this?
Walking down the Stairway, Zhang Ruochen came to Lei Jing.
At this moment, Lei Jing was flushed and excited. He directly slapped Zhang Ruochen’s shoulder and said, “Good lord, you actually hid your strength. I was worried about you. But I didn’t think that you can break through your realm mid-combat. Also, you were even proficient at the Divine Dragon Transformation, a martial technique of the Superior-class in Ghost Level.”
Zhang Ruochen could not explain the Divine Dragon Transformation to Lei Jing. He looked calm and said with a smile, “It was just a stroke of luck. I’m not sure if I can use it again. However, I have offended the four Saint families. I’m afraid that it will be difficult for me to walk freely in the Eastern Region in the future.”
Lei Jing stopped smiling. He looked dignified and said seriously, “As long as you show your talent, those Saint families and Half-Saint families will target you unless you are willing to be a coward. Otherwise, sooner or later, you will have face them.”
“But don’t worry. You have shown your talent today. I believe that the senior leaders of the Saint Academy have started to pay attention to you. As long as you get the support from the Saint Academy, people from Saint families will not hurt you.”
Lei Jing continued to say, “Actually, you should continue to climb the Stairway to Heaven. Do you know why those people desperately want to climb the Stairway after passing the assessment?”
Zhang Ruochen certainly knew the reason and he answered, “I know some reasons. It’s said that if a student can climb up to the 70th level, a Saint of the Saint Academy will accept him as a disciple. If he can climb up to the 80th level, he will become a disciple of a headmaster.”
Lei Jing was puzzled and asked, “Since you know the reason, why didn’t you give it a try? You have a chance to ascend the 80th level of the Stairway with your talent. Each of the 10 headmasters of the Saint Academy is extremely powerful. If you can become a disciple of any one of them, the four Saint families would never dare touch you.”
Zhang Ruochen smiled and said, “Even if I don’t climb the Stairway, I’m afraid that many people have already prepared to accept me as their disciple. Besides, if I become a disciple of a headmaster, I will be a candidate for the young master of the School of the Martial Market. Now, there are already several candidates. If I also become a candidate, wouldn’t I offend a lot more people and cause even more trouble?”
“Also, headmasters of the Saint Academy are all superior and powerful. Even if I become their disciple, I’m afraid that they will not have much time to teach me. I’m willing to be a Half-Saint’s disciple to have more learning opportunities.”
Zhang Ruochen had his own reason for not climbing the Stairway.
With his capabilities, not to mention the 80th level, even the 90th level of the Stairway would not be hard for him to reach.
Once he climbed to the 90th level, what a sensation would he make?
If he did, his name would be reported to the headquarters of the School of the Martial Market, even Empress Chi Yao would possibly hear his name.
But that would undoubtedly spell disaster for him.
Of course, Zhang Ruochen could stop after reaching the 80th level. But that would be so out of his character.
If you were determined to do something, you need to put your best into it.
If you did not intend to put in your utmost, then you better just give up.
And Zhang Ruocheng needed to keep a low profile, at least Empress Chi Yao could not know his name.
The battle today caused a great sensation, but it was not serious enough to alert Empress Chi Yao, so the influence was still under control.
Lei Jing stopped persuading Zhang Ruochen. He sighed and said, “I climbed to the 49th level and was only one step away from the 50th one.”
Although Zhang Ruochen gave up climbing the Stairway, other students from Omen Ridge were not like him. They were still trying to climb up because they wanted to take this opportunity to test their talent and prove themselves.
Among those students, Chang Qiqi had the worst talent, but he still climbed to the 44th level of the Stairway.
Of course, if he could completely refine the Dragon’s Blood in his body, he would be able to climb to a higher level.
The Dragon’s Blood in Chen Xier’s body had been completely refined so that she reached the 56 level. Her aptitude was comparable to the successors of some Half-Saint families.
Si Xingkong had climbed to the 58th Stairway, but he was still struggling to climb to the 60th stair.
Huang Yanchen’s strength had been promoted, and her strength was slightly greater than Si Xingkong’s. She had already on the 59th level and she was also trying to climb to the 60th Stairway.
The performance of Duanmu Xingling was unexpected– she had climbed to the 65th level of the Stairway and was only three stairs behind Luo Shuihan.
About three hours passed, all the students from Omen Ridge walked down the Stairway to Heaven and came to Lei Jing’s side.
The final result was:
Chang Qiqi reached the 44th level of the Stairway.
Chen Xier reached the 56th level of the Stairway.
Si Xingkong reached the 59th level of the Stairway.
Huang Yanchen reached the 60th level of the Stairway.
Duanmu Xingling reached the 67th level of the Stairway.
Luo Shuihan reached the 44th level of the Stairway.
After Si Xingkong returned, he sighed and said, “It’s such a pity. I was just one step away from the 60th level. But the step was a chasm which I could cross.”
Huang Yanchen said, “Elder brother, your talent is stronger than mine, but you haven’t fully refined the Dragon’s Blood yet. It will not be difficult for you to reach the 60th level of the Stairway after you refining the Dragon’s Blood.”
Huang Yanchen understood that she had already taken many treasures that improved her physical constitution while she was refining the Dragon’s Blood. It would be hard for her to enhance her physical quality anymore.
But Si Xingkong was different from her. He had not fully refined the Dragon’s Blood, there was room to improve himself.
Lei Jing said, “Actually, with you guys’ talent, you are not that far off from those successors of Saint families. However, your strength is much worse than theirs.”
“Master, we can’t do anything about that. How old are we? How old are they? There is a two-realm gap between our strength and their strength, so how can we be compared to them? If I have another five years, I will reach the Dawn State of the Heaven Realm. By then, I won’t be afraid of them then,” Chang Qiqi said.
Everyone was in a good mood. Because they had beaten down those people of Saint families, and were currently basking in the limelight.
Especially Chang Qiqi, he was still excited about what he had achieved.
Zhang Ruochen intended to tamp down Chang Qiqi’s pride, so he said, “Elder brother Chang, those successors of Saint families will reach a higher realm after five years, you will still not be an opponent of them unless you work harder than them.”
As a friend, he must know when to cheer him up when he has fallen to the rock-bottom.
But at the same time, he should also know when to appropriately rein him in when he is being overly proudful and arrogant.
Chang Qiqi smiled and said, “At that time, senior sister disciple Luo and you will help me. With your talent, they will be beaten down and kneel down to beg for mercy.”
Hearing these words, all of them stared at Luo Shuihan.
Only she had reached above the 70th level of the Stairway. The others were both envious and impressed.
But only Zhang Ruochen knew that Luo Shuihan had just practiced out the Saintly Being, so the advantage of the Saintly Being had not been completely showed. Otherwise, she would climb to a much higher level, the even 74th level of the Stairway would be easy.
The Saintly Beings were no joke. There were only a few of them in the entire Eastern region.
Lei Jing said, “You have all passed the first round of the assessment and you can choose which department you would like to go to. Meanwhile, you will participate in the second round of the assessment.”
“Of course I will choose the Knife Technique Department. If I can become a disciple of a Half-Saint in Knife Technique, then I will become a successor of a Half-Saint. Haha!” Chang Qiqi said with laughter.
Lei Jing stared at Chang Qiqi and reminded him, saying, “The Knife Technique Department, the Sword Technique Department, the Palm Technique Department, and the Punch Technique Department are the biggest department of the Saint Academy. They have the largest number of applicants and the competition is extremely fierce. I don’t worry about the others, but I’m just worried that you might not even pass the exam of the Knife Technique Department.”
“Amitabha!”
At this moment, a four-meter-tall fat monk silently appeared right next to them. He smiled and looked very kind, just like a “Maitreya”.
The “Maitreya” stared at Chang Qiqi and Si Xingkong and said with a smile, “I sense a connection between them and Buddha. It’s best for them to apply for the Buddhism Department.”