Chapter 3360: The Heavenly Staircase Awakens
At the end of the darkness, deep within the Heavenly Staircase, the majestic divine temple—the scenes unfolding before their eyes were too shocking for the gods' hearts.
Inside the temple, the luminous divine tree was too far away to see clearly. Yet even the Divine Kings felt its immense power and extraordinary aura fluctuations.
As it swayed, it scattered a rain of light, severing the rules of heaven and earth, turning this place into a region without rules.
Divine King Guo and Divine King Feixue were both extremely excited, well aware of the former glory of the Sword Path.
The legendary Sword God Temple—even the Primordial Ancestors had sought it. The luminous divine tree and the light rain it scattered all proved that great fortune lay here.
Perhaps within the Sword God Temple, there was power that could help them break through the shackles of Divine Kingship.
Even if they couldn't break through, achieving a major breakthrough in cultivation to reach the peak of Qiankun Infinite would still be worth looking forward to.
"Realm Lord, hurry and chase them! If the Sword God Temple falls into their hands, we'll be in danger!" Chi Xuan Ghost Lord's voice came from the Possession Armor.
Zhang Ruochen remained very calm and did not pursue.
The Severing Heaven Divine Staircase—even Grandmaster Taiqing thought it dangerous. How could one recklessly charge into it?
If the Sword God Temple were so easy to take away, Grandmaster Taiqing and Grandmaster Yuqing would have moved it to the Sword Realm long ago. Why would it still be here?
Although the divine tree scattering light rain illuminated the darkness, Zhang Ruochen still sensed a dark power within the Sword God Temple far more terrifying than the tree.
This was the Dark Night Star Gate, eternal darkness. There must be some terrifying force shrouding it that Zhang Ruochen could not yet understand.
That divine tree was likely just a candle flame in the darkness.
Divine King Guo and Divine King Feixue appeared to move quickly, but from the perspective of the gods below the Severing Heaven Divine Staircase, they were as slow as snails, taking a great deal of time to climb only a third of the way.
"They didn't chase after us," Divine King Guo said, looking down from above, a faint unease stirring in his heart.
"No need to worry. After the Boundless Northern Expedition, we are the most powerful overlords in the universe. The Sword God Temple has been fallen into darkness for who knows how many billions of years. Even if the Sword Ancestor left behind some extraordinary backup plan, all methods have decayed by now. Wasn't the Origin Divine Temple the same?" Divine King Feixue said.
The various inside stories of the struggle for the Origin Divine Temple in the Sword South Realm had long spread throughout the Hell Realm.
As an eternal divine temple, it had decayed and withered, allowing a group of Saint-level cultivators to contend within it and seize fortune.
They were two Boundless Divine Kings—where in the world could they not go?
Although Divine King Feixue said that, she was not reckless. Instead, she was extremely cautious, using the Heaven-Illuminating Mirror to protect herself, her divine body shrouded in the light of a divine artifact, like glazed light jade.
Suddenly, after Divine King Feixue took a step down, a series of spatial ripples appeared on the staircase beneath her feet.
Her body was pulled by a powerful force.
The space here was deep and unfathomable. Even if an ordinary god came to the foot of the Severing Heaven Divine Staircase, they would likely spend their entire life unable to reach the entrance of the Sword God Temple.
The Heavenly Staircase—one step, one universe. Not everyone could ascend it.
In ancient times, all Sword Path cultivators in the world trained at the foot of the Heavenly Staircase. Those who could climb it, standing on higher steps, were the more powerful cultivators.
Those who could reach the end of the Heavenly Staircase and enter the Sword God Temple were worshipped by all Sword Path cultivators under heaven.
Divine King Feixue was not panicked. She was prepared and directly mobilized the Space Rule Divine Marks within her body. The space around her trembled like thunder. But just as she pulled her jade foot out of the spatial ripples—
The Severing Heaven Divine Staircase shook, and a low roar could be faintly heard.
"Shua shua!"
Dense sword-shaped sword lights flew out from the spatial ripples, striking Divine King Feixue.
Divine King Feixue fell toward the bottom of the Heavenly Staircase, and the sword lights continued to surge, striking her again.
She used the Heaven-Illuminating Mirror as a shield, shattering all the incoming sword lights.
A fierce wind raged on the Heavenly Staircase.
The ordinary stone steps flickered with divine light.
Divine King Guo immediately manifested his Divine King World, enveloping his body in Rule Divine Marks and green ghost fire, vast and indistinct, like a chaotic world.
The unease in his heart grew stronger. He sensed that some terrifying living being or undead was awakening.
...
Grandmaster Taiqing and Divine King Yu arrived in the void not far from the Severing Heaven Divine Staircase, peering at the Sword God Temple. They felt an inexplicably powerful aura.
The fierce wind had already blown to where they stood.
"Not good. It has been disturbed and is now awake." Grandmaster Taiqing's expression turned ugly.
...
Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin, controlling the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations, quickly retreated far away.
But Divine King Guo and Divine King Feixue on the Heavenly Staircase could not retreat so easily. They were locked in by space, and even Divine King power could not break free.
"Found it!"
Divine King Guo spread his arms, divine Qi flowing within him.
His palms pressed downward.
Above, two giant ghost cloud hand seals condensed, striking the Severing Heaven Divine Staircase below.
Divine King Guo's divine soul was powerful, and he had detected the clue—all the danger came from the Heavenly Staircase itself.
The Heavenly Staircase... seemed alive!
These two hand seals could crush a star and extinguish a world.
"Boom!"
The Heavenly Staircase was struck and could not escape, collapsing rapidly.
But sections of the stone steps flew up, like thousands of stone swords, stabbing, slashing, or lifting...
Divine King Feixue, the weaker of the two, soon had her Divine King World pierced through. All her defensive divine light shattered, and she was struck by the stone steps, spitting blood as she fled downward.
Fearing her body would be shattered again, she immediately dove into the Heaven-Illuminating Mirror.
On the other side, Divine King Guo's Divine King World was also pierced.
Each stone step was like a heavy sword.
Ten thousand swords fell together—impossible to block.
Zhang Ruochen, who had retreated far away, said, "Has the Heavenly Staircase given birth to spiritual intelligence and transformed into the Stone Clan?"
Grandmaster Taiqing and Divine King Yu had already joined them.
Grandmaster Taiqing's expression was grave. "Do you see that luminous divine tree in the Sword God Temple? It should be the legendary Sword Source! Because absorbing the light rain it scatters can nurture the Sword Soul and Sword Dao Rule Divine Marks. That is why, despite being only at the Qiankun Infinite middle stage, my Sword Soul's strength can rival that of a Qiankun Infinite peak existence's divine soul."
"The Severing Heaven Divine Staircase, bathed in the light rain for ages—what's strange about it giving birth to spiritual intelligence?"
"Back then, when the three of us, master and disciples, found this place, Shangqing fell precisely because of this Severing Heaven Divine Staircase. But later, we discovered that if one is careful, avoiding spatial vortices and not releasing divine Qi, the Severing Heaven Divine Staircase would not be awakened."
Zhang Ruochen breathed in and absorbed the light rain into his body.
The light rain indeed merged into his Sword Soul and Sword Dao Rule Divine Marks, including his Sword Soul.
"This is an excellent place for cultivating the Sword Path!" Chi Yao said.
She had just tried to absorb the light rain, and her divine soul stung as if cut by a sword.
But her Sword Soul grew noticeably, becoming purer.
Grandmaster Taiqing said, "The closer you get to that divine tree, the denser the light rain, and the faster the improvement. However, those at the Taiyi Realm might not be able to withstand it."
Bai Qinger said, "Since the Sword Source is so mysterious, allowing the Severing Heaven Divine Staircase to give birth to spiritual intelligence and become so terrifying, could other artifacts in the Sword God Temple also be the same? Including the Sword God Temple itself?"
This speculation made many gods change color.
Visible danger is not fearful; the invisible is.
Grandmaster Taiqing said, "Indeed, the Sword God Temple is full of dangers, one of the most perilous places in the world. But what use is talking about it now? The Severing Heaven Divine Staircase has been awakened. This time, I'm afraid we won't be able to enter the temple's interior."
Divine King Yu was not particularly proficient in the Sword Path and had little interest in the Sword Source. He stared in the direction where the divine power fluctuations were most intense. "Divine King Feixue and Divine King Guo are about to retreat. They are badly injured. This is a rare opportunity to eliminate them."
Grandmaster Taiqing nodded slightly.
Although the Severing Heaven Divine Staircase was terrifying, Grandmaster Taiqing was now close to the Qiankun Infinite peak and had long wanted to test his strength against it.
Previously, there was no need to take the risk, but this time Grandmaster Taiqing was very unwilling. He wanted to enter the Sword God Temple to break through to the Qiankun Infinite peak. Otherwise, he would have to wait another thousand years.
Of course, the main reason was to silence them, to avoid leaving a root of trouble.
Letting Divine King Guo and Divine King Feixue return to the Hell Realm would bring endless trouble.
"Move!"
Divine King Yu unleashed the Nine Palaces Divine Seal, evolving nine different mysterious spaces, like nine-colored clouds, enveloping the Heaven-Illuminating Mirror that had fled down the Heavenly Staircase, trying to forcibly take it.
Inside the Heaven-Illuminating Mirror, Divine King Feixue's silhouette appeared. "Kicking someone when they're down, taking advantage of their plight—is this the way of the Heavenly Beginning Old Heavenly Lord?"
She could not control her emotions. She was about to go mad!
After barely escaping the Heavenly Staircase, she was ambushed by another wave of powerful enemies, trapped in a desperate situation. It seemed very difficult to escape today!
Divine King Yu said, "The Old Heavenly Lord once taught that without thunderous means, there is no merciful heart. So what if I take advantage of your plight? To deal with experts like you two, this old man will stop at nothing."
"You two followed us into the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain with ill intentions. Did you really think we would fight you fairly?"
Grandmaster Taiqing did not hesitate at all. He pushed his hands forward, and instantly, purple Qi spread for a thousand miles, with ten thousand swords shuttling through the purple Qi.
"Self-destruct the Divine Source and die together with them!" Divine King Guo said.
His ghost body had been shattered several times by the Heavenly Staircase, and his divine soul was less than seventy percent of its peak. His combat power had declined severely, and he was definitely no match for Grandmaster Taiqing.
Divine King Feixue did not self-destruct her Divine Source, because she thought that if Divine King Guo self-destructed his, there might still be a chance for her to escape today. But she waited a long time and saw no sign of Divine King Guo self-destructing.
The purple Qi struck Divine King Guo.
While resisting the stone swords of the Heavenly Staircase behind him, Divine King Guo could not withstand Grandmaster Taiqing's "Purple Qi from the East" Sword Path divine ability. His ghost body was riddled with holes, and his soul power was ground away countless times again.
Ji Fanxin wanted to act, but Zhang Ruochen stopped her.
At present, Divine King Feixue and Divine King Guo were both severely injured and were no match for Divine King Yu and Grandmaster Taiqing. There was no need for them to attack. Instead, they should focus on preventing the two Divine Kings from escaping.
Of course, they must also be wary of the Heavenly Staircase.
The Heavenly Staircase was more terrifying than Divine King Feixue and Divine King Guo combined.
Bai Qinger said, "The spiritual intelligence of this Heavenly Staircase is extraordinary. It didn't attack us. This shows it has rationality, not just an attack instinct."
Zhang Ruochen and Chi Yao nodded secretly. This made the Heavenly Staircase even more terrifying. It meant it might not have used its full power before.
"It... it... is it wary of us?" a Stone Clan god in the form of a turtle said.
Idiot!
Bai Qinger did not want to bother with Turtle King. He was a complete stone head, bringing shame to the Stone Clan.