Chapter 46: Sun Ladder
Below the Sun Ladder, at the ancient capital of the Ganglu Dynasty.
Only by approaching and looking up could one feel how awe-inspiring the Sun Ladder truly was.
The Sun Ladder was cylindrical, like a pillar standing between heaven and earth. Inside its hollow structure, a spiral staircase ascended upward, circling round and round, as if reaching toward the sky.
The outer wall of the Sun Ladder was not just rock; embedded within the stone were withered vines. The main trunk of these vines was as thick as a thumb, with branches that seemed to embrace the entire Sun Ladder.
From the outside, the Sun Ladder had a diameter of a hundred meters, with an arched doorway located near the lower section.
Baha, who had been scouting, returned, and soon after, Hugh Xiro also arrived.
"So slow."
Su Xiao checked the time. Baha and Hugh Xiro were nearly two minutes late compared to the scheduled time.
"Went to fertilize the 'leeks,' took a bit of time."
Baha smirked, not directly mentioning that they had encountered the Divine Emperor Adventure Group.
Su Xiao looked puzzled but didn't press further. After climbing a dozen steps, he entered the arched doorway. Since it was morning, sunlight reflected into the Sun Ladder through the arch, so it wasn't dark inside.
The interior of the Sun Ladder was a cylindrical tube. The spiraling stone steps were fixed to the surrounding walls. Since there were no railings beside the steps, the center of the Sun Ladder led straight upward.
Looking up, after a hundred meters, only darkness could be seen.
Walking along the spiral steps without railings was certainly a thrilling experience. An invisible force field was descending from the center.
"How tall is this structure?"
Shenfu stopped at the center of the Sun Ladder's base, feeling the slowly descending force field from above. This force field didn't affect the stone steps clinging to the walls.
"Unknown."
Ovia walked into the arch. Her white hair was tied up, and her black smoke dress no longer dragged on the ground. Behind her, the red-eyed woman carried a large leather bag, its contents unknown.
"Rumor has it that a secret mage once flew several kilometers above the ancient capital, then fell like a stone."
Ovia looked at Guild Leader Roggs. Roggs didn't speak, confirming the truth of this information.
"That's right. I feel discomfort flying above 3,500 meters."
Baha confirmed the truth of this information. Last time it came to the ancient capital, it wanted to see how tall the Sun Ladder was, but the risk was too great, so it didn't try.
"Let's go."
Though Shenfu said this, he didn't take the lead. Instead, he waited for Su Xiao to step onto the stone steps first. Among everyone present, Su Xiao had the sharpest close-range perception and the fastest reaction speed.
Walking at the front had its advantages. Amu and Baha were at the rear of the formation, sandwiching the others in between. Everyone understood this, but if they wanted Su Xiao to lead the way, they couldn't object.
Su Xiao walked at the front, followed by Bubu Wang, then Ovia and the red-eyed woman, then Shenfu, Guild Leader Roggs, and Hugh Xiro, with Amu and Baha at the rear.
Worth mentioning was that Guild Leader Roggs had also brought the masked man, Bass. Bass remained silent, just following behind Roggs.
After ascending a hundred meters, Su Xiao noticed many carvings on the wall beside him—texts from different eras, with content such as:
'The sun is above.'
'Step forward, one by one. This is a trial.'
'Face the trial of the sun.'
...
There were dozens of messages from various eras combined. Seeing these, Su Xiao knew that his Sun Gate team wasn't the first to bring five keys to the Sun Gate.
What happened to those before was unknown, but one thing was certain: the current Sun Gate team, with the same number of people, was undoubtedly the strongest of this era.
Death Shadow Ovia and Guild Leader Roggs were the combat power ceiling of this world. Who was stronger between them was still unknown, as they had never fought.
Climbing the stone steps step by step, Su Xiao kept calculating in his mind. He had ascended about a kilometer now. Looking to the side, the bottom was already out of sight.
The Sun Ladder was likely not built through conventional means. Although this was a seventh-rank transcendent world, given the technological level, building a structure a hundred meters high was the limit.
The known information was that the Sun Ladder's height exceeded a kilometer. Moreover, the higher one went, the higher the surrounding temperature.
Su Xiao exhaled hot air. He turned to look at Bubu Wang behind him. Bubu Wang stuck out its tongue, looking dazed, already heat-stunned, its intelligence dropping to Hugh Xiro's level. Its genuine leather coat was truly too hot.
"Bubuteni, if you're too hot, just peel off your skin and cool down."
Hugh Xiro, bare-chested, spoke from behind.
"Woof!"
Bubu Wang barked at Hugh Xiro. Since it and Su Xiao were at the front of the spiral staircase, by turning its head, it could see Hugh Xiro and the others below, each maintaining a distance of about five meters.
Continuing upward, Su Xiao took out a rangefinder. After inputting several types of data, this rangefinder, which looked similar to a timer, began calculating his current height based on the distance he traveled and the slope of the spiral stone steps.
Su Xiao glanced at the rangefinder. He had already climbed 2,168 meters. Looking up again, the spiral steps above seemed endless.
Having climbed this far, Su Xiao wondered if he had entered some kind of alternate space. But Baha sent a message through the team channel, confirming no abnormalities—they were still inside the Sun Ladder.
Su Xiao's hand touched the wall beside him. It was too hot. Even with his physique, he felt scorching heat.
The moment his hand touched the wall, a piece of weathered rock snapped off with a crack. Everyone present had strong perception, and they immediately stopped.
"Bai Ye, what's the situation?"
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. He was looking at a piece of rock in front of him, about the size of a fingernail, slowly floating upward.
Grabbing the gradually rising rock fragment, Su Xiao tossed it toward Shenfu. As soon as the rock fragment reached Shenfu's vicinity, it slowly floated upward.
Seeing this, Shenfu felt a sense of unease. If the entire Sun Ladder was built from this kind of stone, then the building's height would be hard to determine.
This type of stone almost ignored gravity. Once used to construct a building, there was no worry about collapse. As long as it was fixed to the ground to prevent the Sun Ladder from floating into the sky, it could be built very high.
Baha had previously scouted that there was heavy pressure outside the Sun Ladder, likely due to some energy floating above.
External pressure, the floating nature of the Sun Ladder's main body, and the sturdy stone used to build it—multiple factors combined to create the magnificent Sun Ladder.
Su Xiao didn't know the exact structure of the Sun Ladder, but he knew one thing: the higher they went, the higher the temperature inside, with heat waves constantly surging from above.
Continuing forward, when the rangefinder showed 5,173 meters, Su Xiao stopped again. He suspected the device was broken. Even with the Sun Ladder's special structure, it shouldn't be this tall. Moreover... it was getting hotter.
Su Xiao wiped the sweat from his chin. He took off his [Wild Hunt Night] long leather coat and undergarments, baring his upper body. He took out a large bottle of water and poured it over his head.
Hiss, hiss.
White steam rose from Su Xiao's body. The water vapor carried away the heat from his skin, creating visible mist. This showed how high his body temperature was.
He poured the remaining half-bottle of water over Bubu Wang, who was "joyfully" hot, helping it recover a bit.
"Could it be... we're really approaching the sun?"
Shenfu behind him was also bare-chested. If Su Xiao felt the heat, Shenfu certainly wasn't comfortable either. As for Guild Leader Roggs, a secret mage, the drops of sweat falling from his chin showed his current state.
"Approaching the sun? How is that possible? We haven't even left the atmosphere of the Demon Spirit Star. You need to believe in science, Shenfu."
As Baha spoke, it bit into a piece of ice created by Amu using ice energy (transcendent ability).
"Oh ho ho, Red-Eyed Girl, I never noticed before, hmm~"
Hugh Xiro, who was almost heat-stunned into a fool, spoke up. He said this because the red-eyed woman had stripped down to just her underwear. She didn't care at all; if Ovia hadn't stopped her, she would have gone completely naked, which would be cooler.
"Indeed."
Shenfu also glanced sideways. The old man was quite mischievous.
Su Xiao at the front continued onward. The higher they went, the more terrifying the temperature.
Carrying Bubu Wang, Su Xiao lost track of how long he had been climbing when the stone steps finally ended. An arched door appeared ahead.
Entering the arch, Su Xiao found himself at the top of the Sun Ladder, an area of about several dozen square meters.
As soon as he stepped into the top of the Sun Ladder, Su Xiao saw carvings on the ground—several messages, with content such as:
'You succeeded.'
'Don't be proud. This is only the beginning.'
'If you didn't bring the five keys, go back the way you came. Sliding down on a wooden board will give you a different experience—thrilling and exciting.'
'The Sun Gate is before you, but what is that dark hole? Perhaps... it is the Black Filth.'
'Another group of death-seekers lured by the mask. Final warning: do not engage more than 10 Sun Warriors.'
...
Various messages existed, but no particularly useful information was gained.
Su Xiao looked toward the innermost part of the Sun Ladder's top. A massive metal door stood there. The door had a dull golden hue, with a circular ring at its center. Near the bottom, at a height of 1.6 meters from the ground, there were five grooves spaced about a meter apart. This was the Sun Gate.
[Prompt: The Hunter has passed the 'Ladder Trial.']
[Your Willpower attribute is permanently increased by 1 point.]
[Your Health Points are permanently increased by 300 points.]
[You have gained the Sun's Blessing. For 1 hour, damage from Sun-type effects you receive will be reduced by 5%.]
[Warning: The Hunter is about to enter the world's ultra-high-risk area: Ganglu Dynasty · Blazing Sun Holy Land.]
[Prompt: Upon entering this area, the Soul Shop will be activated. The Hunter can exchange items in the Soul Shop by consuming Soul Coins.]
PS (Four chapters today. Writing a bit slowly, sorry for the late update.)