...Qingyun Leaderboard?
Gu Zuo stared blankly.
He only new that there was an Earth Leaderboard and a Sky Leaderboard, but he had never heard of this leaderboard before.
Gongyi Tianheng carefully inquired: “Young Lady Ling, how does one challenge this Qingyun Leaderboard? Are there any differences between it and the Earth and Sky Leaderboards?”
Since Ling Ziwei mentioned this matter, she no longer hesitated, and gave him an explanation: “The Qingyun Leaderboard is a list that only exists in this place. All who know about this core region of the Sect can challenge this leaderboard. As for the people on the Qingyun Leaderboard, they are separated into an upper ranking and lower ranking. Those of the upper ranks are Immortal Realms, and those of the lower ranks are Xiantian Realms...”
According to her words, for any who could appear on the leaderboard, the lower ranks were normally all Xiantian Realm disciples with hidden strength. And the the competition of the upper ranks was even fiercer — After all, there were more Immortal Realm disciples than Xiantian Realm disciples in this core region. Rather than saying that the Qingyun Leaderboard was divided into upper and lower ranks, it was better to say that, in order to give the Xiantian Realm disciples a bit of psychological stability, it opened up an additional lower ranking.
Gu Zuo nodded his head, expressing his comprehension.
Indeed. Originally, this place only had Profound Ley Lines. Those True Qi Ponds were created artificially. It was only natural that more importance was attached to the Immortal Realm disciples. As a matter of fact, in such a colossus like Qingyun Sect, only by reaching the Immortal Realm could one be counted as the Sect’s true power. The so-called Houtian Realms and Xiantian Realms were actually all reserves. Moreover, only Xiantian martial artists could be regarded as a foundation. Otherwise, why could only Xiantian disciples become Inner Sect disciples?
In this world where the weak were prey to the strong, no place was fair. Being capable of using strength to achieve a state of loose fairness, and allowing disciples from poor backgrounds the means to advance themselves was already very considerate.
Of course, comprehension was just comprehension. However, as a person from another world, there was always a barrier in his heart to this kind of worldview... Right now, he simply had to do his best to adapt.
Off to the side, Tianheng and Ling Ziwei exchanged a few sentences, digging out a few more things about the Qingyun Leaderboard.
As mentioned before, the great majority of Qingyun Sect’s disciples didn’t actually know about the Qingyun Leaderboard. In their eyes, the Sky Leaderboard was the highest ranking, but in fact, the powerhouses who could get on the Sky Leaderboard didn’t amount to much on the side of the Qingyun Leaderboard — If it was the ones near the rear of the list, perhaps they wouldn’t be able to get on the Qingyun Leaderboard at all.
The fighting prowess of both sides couldn’t be mentioned in the same breath. The geniuses who moved unhindered on the Qingyun Leaderboard were the true geniuses in Qingyun Sect. They were also the personages who would be pulled out to fight for the Sect’s honor at the required moments.
Gu Zuo was silent.
So to say, the secluded disciples who were previously asked to come out should’ve been the disciples on the Qingyun Leaderboard’s lower ranks? Maybe the location of their seclusion was precisely this Qingyun Mountain Range...
Ling Ziwei guided the way in front. While she walked, she continued to give the two an introduction.
Just between some mountain peaks stood a towering and enormous mountain. And this mountain was unlike the unbroken chain of mountains from before. It looked arduously steep and tall. It was like the mountain contained heaven and earth within it.
Ling Ziwei said: “This is the main peak. It’s also the location where the Qingyun Leaderboard is challenged. This place has five dangers and three wonders, and they’re considered the eight hurdles. Among them, what the Xiantian Realm martial artists challenge are the three wonders. The Immortal Realm martial artists challenge the five dangers...” When she spoke up to here, she extended a hand and pointed to a place halfway up the mountain, “That’s one of the wonders.”
Gu Zuo raised his head to look. He discovered that the place where Ling Ziwei pointed to was a pitch-black and very deep cavern. However, that was just a cavern. What was so “wondrous” about it?
Tianheng also looked over: “What wondrous thing is in that cavern?”
Ling Ziwei’s beautiful forehead faintly dipped into a nod: “That is the Wondrous Wind Cave. Throughout the entire cave is a strange wind. To pass through it, one needs a nimble body technique. Moreover, one’s perception is different every time one rushes into the Wondrous Wind Cave. Being able to pass through it the first time doesn’t mean that it can be done the second time. For the same reason, even if a person passes through the cave on the second, third, and fourth tries, there’s the possibility that they’ll get lost inside during the fifth or sixth attempts. Under normal circumstances, in order to ensure that the entering martial artists come out, a rope is fastened to the waists of all the disciples who enter the Wondrous Wind Cave. Once they get lost, they can rely on the rope to get out.”
Gu Zuo asked: “If an Immortal Realm martial artist goes in, will they be able to get through it easily?”
Ling Ziwei shook her head: “Immortal Realm martial artists can’t go in because there’s another peculiarity about the Wondrous Wind Cave. If a martial artist at the Immortal Realm or above goes in, then the wind inside will completely disappear. It’ll be the same as the most ordinary of caves... This place came into being naturally. At first, someone mentioned that it should be reconstructed, but reportedly, the results weren’t satisfactory when an attempt was made. Ultimately, it could only be like this.”
Gu Zuo breathed out: “It’s not surprising that it’s called the Wondrous Wind Cave. Sure enough, it’s quite unusual.”
Tianheng also endorsed: “The wonders of nature are beyond words.”
Gradually, the three walked to the base of the main peak.
At this location, there was an extremely long flight of thousands upon thousands of stone steps, which led straight to the summit.
Gu Zuo raised his head to look at it, and only felt that he wouldn’t be able to see the end. He couldn’t help but feel gobsmacked: “This is the path to go up?”
Ling Ziwei shook her head again: “This is the second wonder. The Wondrous Stone Road.”
“What’s so unusual about the Wondrous Stone Road?”
“The strange nature of the Wondrous Stone Road lies in the pressure it gives to martial artists.”
In the wake of Ling Ziwei’s words, Gu Zuo and Tianheng gradually realized what this thing was as they stood at the base of that long flight of stone steps.
En, it was a variation of the gravity rooms.
Gu Zuo and Tianheng previously went to try out the gravity rooms. In there, different gravity rooms contained different pressures. And this ten-thousand stone step path was similar. The higher one went up the stone steps, the stronger the gravity it exerted.
For example, the first two-thousand stone steps were nothing special. It also allowed Xiantian disciples to experience the pleasure of “climbing”. During the next two-thousand steps, the gravity would abruptly double. Continuing onto the next two-thousand steps, the gravity would double again&#k2026; By reasonable deduction, every two-thousand steps acted as a level, which continuously doubled the gravity.
Gu Zuo didn’t fully understand: “If it’s only like this, it can’t be called very ‘wondrous’, right?”
Ling Ziwei nodded: “The wondrous part isn’t this. The wonder rests in the fact that the Wondrous Stone Road can remember the level of any disciple’s last climb. If last time’s climb reached the three-thousandth step, and the disciple couldn’t endure it and had to leave, then during the next time’s attempt, the pressure of the first step would already be equal to that of last time’s three-thousandth step.”
Gu Zuo’s eyes widened: “In other words, the gravity’s range can actually be continuously increased? In that case, if big... If my family’s young master climbed ten-thousand steps on his first climb, would the first step of his following attempt have the pressure of the previous ten-thousandth step?”
Ling Ziwei’s beautiful forehead dipped into another nod: “Yes.”
Gu Zuo understood in a flash.
So it turned out to be like this. It really could be called “wondrous”! This shared a point of similarity with those automatic escalators! In terms of training someone, it was definitely formidable!
It was just that...
Gu Zuo still had doubts: “If a person wasn’t able to bear the doubled pressure of the next step, would they simply be crushed to death here? Even if they weren’t crushed to death and could retreat, wouldn’t they be incapable of honing themselves here following this?”
Ling Ziwei replied: “If they died in the blink of an eye, it would only prove that the climbing disciple didn’t know themselves well enough. If such an idiot died here, then it would be considered a meaningful death. And if one was prepared, so long as they could persevere for a moment, the stone steps would sense that the disciple’s physical body was incapable of resisting the gravity, and it would automatically weaken the pressure. The pressure would be set halfway between its original state and the doubled amount. Thus, allowing the disciple to adapt.
She continued: “During the subsequent attempt, this pressure will serve as the norm, and the disciple can conduct the next round of honing.”
So it was actually this smart...
Gu Zuo suddenly felt awed.
Sure enough, it was unusual!
The first two wonders were both very attractive. All of a sudden, Gu Zuo was brimming with interest towards the third wonder: “Young Lady Ling, what is the third wonder?”
Ling Ziwei’s expression suddenly became somewhat odd: “The third wonder...”
Originally, Tianheng listened attentively while filled with interest. The moment he saw Ling Ziwei’s expression, he followed up with a question: “Young Lady Ling, could it be that it’s an unmentionable secret?”
Ling Ziwei’s tender form slightly paused: “It’s not like that.” She cleared her throat, “The third wonder is the Wondrous Fire Cloud.”
Gu Zuo was stunned at once: “The Wondrous Fire...Cloud?”
The words “wondrous” and “fire” could be understood, but “wondrous fire” and “cloud”? What was this thing? He couldn’t understand at all!
At this time, Ling Ziwei didn’t speak much. She only said in a gentle tone: “Talking about it now won’t make things clear. Wait until we reach the mountain top, then you’ll naturally see the Wondrous Fire Cloud. When that time comes, this Ziwei will further explain it to you two. How about that?”
Gu Zuo’s appetite was whetted, but he also didn’t barrage her with questions. In any case, Ling Ziwei said that they’d know once they reached the top, right? Who knew what kind of interesting things were there?
Tianheng rarely got the chance to see Gu Zuo reveal this kind of lively, teenaged appearance. He reached out a hand to ruffle Gu Zuo’s hair: “Wait till we reach the top so that this elder brother can accompany Ah Zuo to take a look.”
Gu Zuo’s heart warmed. He couldn’t help opening his mouth to say: “Then, it’s settled!”
But right now, the first thing that Tianheng wanted to do was to walk along the Wondrous Stone Road. He wanted to experience what the gravity on this stairway felt like.
Gu Zuo diligently waited on the side.
Originally, they should’ve let Ling Ziwei take the first step, but it was Ling Ziwei who suggested it first. She was willing to wait here.
After Tianheng and Gu Zuo exchanged glances, they didn’t decline her courteous offer.
Anyhow, she was most likely going to be Tianyang’s wife... That was also considered half a family member.
Sure enough, after Tianheng didn’t refuse her, a hint of joy streaked across Ling Ziwei’s beautiful eyes. Soon after, she chatted with Gu Zuo on the side from time to time as they waited for Tianheng.
Then, Tianheng’s foot landed upon the first stone step.
It was very strange. An attractive power spread out from under his foot, and his back also seemed to be pressed down by something. His entire body became heavy immediately.
He assessed himself for a little bit. It was approximately the same as the tenfold gravity in the gravity rooms. In his opinion, that was effortless — Also, for all of the secluded disciples who could come here, no matter how bad their physical bodies were, they wouldn’t take the tenfold gravity seriously. It was natural that the first two-thousand stone steps were “ordinary stone steps”.
Following which, Tianheng started to ascend at flying speeds.
Gu Zuo and Ling Ziwei were watching on the side. Seeing that Tianheng was climbing higher and higher, they also swiftly rushed upwards along the mountain’s side path.
Just as Ling Ziwei started dashing out, she suddenly asked: “Pharmacist Gu, do you need help?”
As a pharmacist, Gu Zuo was naturally weak in an outsider’s eyes. However, while he didn’t bother about being carried to and fro by other people during normal times, being carried by a girl who seemed even slimmer than himself would be too much of a loss of face... Besides, although this girl was considered half a family member, certain proprieties should still be observed between men and women.
Hence, Gu Zuo just said: “No need. I can run just fine.”
Ling Ziwei didn’t try to persuade him — Because she was also a little embarrassed.
Following that, the two of them were like bolts of lightning as they trailed Tianheng at almost the same speed. They continuously scaled up to the top of the mountain. Yes, while Tianheng was burdened by the gravity, his speed was still this fast! Ling Ziwei and Gu Zuo were forced to give it their all, and they could only barely keep up...
Eventually, Tianheng climbed the first two-thousand stone steps, and arrived at the two-thousand and first step.
Gu Zuo watched on with worry. In the blink of an eye, he discovered that Tianheng’s entire body had stopped for a moment. After that, he stood still. His body suddenly swayed, and it wasn’t as effortless as it was previously.
Although Tianheng’s body had passed through the beast blood tempering and his current physical body was several times stronger than before, he was part of those whose bodies found it difficult under tenfold gravity in the past. Even though he was much more powerful now, this didn’t mean that he could completely disregard the doubled gravity — After all, the gravity was strengthening. The feeling of oppression it gave a person couldn’t be offset by multiple increases in one’s physical fitness.
As a result, the Tianheng who was under twentyfold gravity, could barely stand after swaying for a few times.
This truly appeared to be a bit challenging.
Gu Zuo came to an abrupt stop. He was incredibly nervous.
Gu Zuo hoped that his big brother could walk stably. Otherwise, he’d fall down from here. If, in a moment of carelessness, he couldn’t promptly stop his descent, then what kind of appearance would that fall give him? No matter how strong his physical body was, it would be broken by the fall!
Fortunately, Tianheng stepped out at once, and smoothly went up the flight of stairs. For a period of time, the tragedy of an inattentive fall didn’t occur. On the contrary, after a short while of adapting, his movements became stable and firm. Only, each step left his forehead drenched in sweat. Moreover, it wasn’t known how many times slower his speed of traveling had become.
Gu Zuo gently and cautiously accompanied him on the side. Ling Ziwei also didn’t speak a word, and was very quiet.
Gradually, two hours passed. Then, four hours passed...
During the sixth hour, Tianheng finally reached the area of the four-thousandth step. He swallowed several medicinal pills. After his body, which had split open with rivulets of blood, recovered back to normal, he took a deep breath and raised his foot once more!
Gu Zuo held his breath, and felt like he was going to suffocate.
He certainly, definitely, absolutely couldn’t fall down —
The instant that Tianheng pressed down with his foot, a dense web of cracks had already appeared on his right leg. He withdrew his leg almost immediately, and landed back down onto the four-thousandth stone step.
Sure enough, it was no good. If Tianheng really had stepped forward, he probably could’ve held on for a moment. But under those circumstances, the reduction in gravity certainly wouldn’t be within the range of the twentyfold gravity. Since it was like this, with Tianheng’s IQ, he wouldn’t risk his life to waste that amount of time and effort.
Thus, Tianheng took a few steps to the right side. After that, his figure flickered, and he leaped out of the scope of the stone stairs.
At this moment, his figure swiftly cut an arc through the air. Immediately following this, his body swayed again. At the end, he gracefully landed next to Gu Zuo.
Gu Zuo hastily said: “Big brother, quickly let me treat your leg!”
Just then, Tianheng’s right leg had been seriously injured. Because it didn’t receive any treatment, after returning to the twentyfold gravity section of the stone steps, the blood in the wounds practically spurted out like it had been squeezed by a vice. Right now, it looked gruesome.
Tianheng faintly smiled: “This is just a flesh wound. It’s no trouble.”
After he finished speaking, he took a Revitalization Pill. In a flash, those numerous wounds healed completely at speeds visible to the naked eye. In but a moment, his leg was already as bright and clean as before. Not even the slightest traces of being lacerated were to be seen.
At this time, Gu Zuo laid down his worries.
He also knew that those were minor injures, but the violent spurts of blood were so scary. It always made one’s heart uneasy...
Tianheng didn’t say anything else. After this, their group quickly moved towards the mountain top.
Along the way, they occasionally saw one or two silhouettes shuttling through the forest. It was assumed that they were fellow disciples who were likewise cultivating in this place. However, since the other parties didn’t take the initiative to show themselves, Gu Zuo and the others couldn’t recognize those fellow disciples. The matter of greeting each other was dropped at this point.
Not long after, they approached the Wondrous Wind Cave halfway up.
Tianheng wanted to go inside to take a look around as well. However, while Ling Ziwei was half a family member, she wasn’t completely part of the family yet. They still needed Ling Ziwei to explain some of the circumstances, and they weren’t willing to trouble Ling Ziwei to wait a few hours at the Wondrous Wind Cave’s entrance just for them.
After a bit more time passed, the scents that their noses could smell became fresher and cleaner. It also carried an icy-cold feeling. At last, when Gu Zuo raised his head, he saw the mountain top!
The mountain top wasn’t some neglected place that was overgrown with weeds. In this place, there were many enormous trees, which seemed ancient and especially thick and solid. And the thing that these enormous trees surrounded and protected was a gigantic stone tablet. Upon the tablet were the names of numerous disciples and their relative rankings.
Due to the visual obstruction of the enormous trees, they could only see some of the topmost sections. However, they also wanted to take a look at the “true faces” of the geniuses on the Qingyun Leaderboard. So, under Ling Ziwei’s lead, they passed through several copses of trees and came to that place.
Gu Zuo’s eyesight was exceptionally good. At this time, he intended to size things up. He discovered that the total number of people on the Qingyun Leaderboard’s upper and lower ranks was no more than seventy.
Moreover, the upper rank had fifty people, and the lower rank only had twenty people.
This amount was truly quite minuscule...
However, after a second thought, Gu Zuo reacted.
— This shouldn’t have been surprising. After all, he knew that there were very few people on the Qingyun Leaderboard, and that there were even fewer Xiantian Realm secluded disciples. To list these ranks, this was actually considered quite a lot, right?
After that, Gu Zuo started to read the previously-mentioned names one by one.
Naturally, he started reading from the first place position. The name of the Qingyun Leaderboard’s number one was Teng Yunfei... Sure enough, it was a person he’d never heard of before. Ranking at second place was Hu Yulei, and third place was Xu Jiaojiao.
Fourth place was...
Sixth place was...
Seventh place was Huang Ji...
Eh? Eh?!
Seventh place was Huang Ji? That same Huang Ji who was the Sky Leaderboard’s first place?!
That was completely unexpected!
One needed to know that, although Huang Ji was favored by a member of the Sect Master’s bloodline, that was based on his master’s close relationship. It was out of the question to say that he himself was close to the Sect Master’s bloodline — In actuality, he wasn’t close to anyone! He was a loner. In addition, his Heavenly Beast Body never showed any abilities that caught people’s eyes. Even though his strength increased very quickly, the aspect of his loyalties still needed to be checked.
The most important thing was that, if he was a person on the Qingyun Leaderboard, did he still have to fight others on the Sky Leaderboard? He didn’t seem like such an idle person...
Of course, Gu Zuo didn’t know that the reason why Huang Ji became the Sky Leaderboard’s number one was purely because he was neglected for a period of time after his master passed away, and he decided to fight even harder. It wasn’t only to earn some honor for his deceased master, but to show that he wasn’t someone who could be provoked.
From then on, Huang Ji’s strength improved even faster. After discovering that Huang Ji was indeed a person with great potential, the Sect Master’s bloodline gave him a helping hand, letting him cultivate in this core region.
After that, Huang Ji found out that there countless experts on the Qingyun Leaderboard, and his heart was endlessly happy. Now, the only thing that he felt sorry about was that he couldn’t fight with the Qingyun Leaderboard’s first place: Teng Yunfei.
It definitely wasn’t that Huang Ji didn’t dare to fight him. Rather, the last time he challenged Teng Yunfei, Huang Ji was at the high Immortal Realm, but he was still suppressed within a hundred rounds... And in order to challenge Teng Yunfei one day in the future, it was only natural that Huang Ji treated himself even more harshly and cruelly.
Getting back to the main point, Gu Zuo was a little distressed in his heart over this Qingyun Leaderboard. He could wait to take another look at the lower rankings. In any case, he didn’t believe that there were any opponents for his dear big brother at equivalent realms. Presently, what he was concerned about were the names of those throngs of experts at the Immortal Realm and above. He was guessing what levels they had reached!
Tianheng got a clear look at the Qingyun Leaderboard’s stone tablet. At this time, he spoke in a low voice: “The path of martial arts is boundless. In equivalent realms, the gaps in strength are usually very large. If one wants to make breakthroughs every time, and to sweep away those at equal realms and even those at higher realms, one must be tranquil and even-tempered. One can’t be disturbed by external matters...”
Gu Zuo nodded immediately afterwards: “What big brother says is right.”
At this time, Ling Ziwei opened her mouth once more. Her body leaned slightly to the side. It was almost like she wanted to bring these two people to another location: “Benefactor, would you like to test your own strength?”
Gu Zuo was very curious: “How will he test it? Should he find someone to spar with?”
Ling Ziwei smiled: “Nope.”
While she talked, her finger pointed towards a certain direction.
Tianheng raised an eyebrow. Soon after, he looked over based on her words.
In that place, there was actually another stone tablet!
T/N: Thanks for the corrections, Charysa.
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