Chapter 145: A Draw!

Hearing this, Huazefeng almost choked and stopped breathing.

Luo Tian gave him a strange look, failing to understand why this fellow was so keen on competing with him. However, he had no time to dwell on it; Huazefeng ahead of him looked like he was about to reach his limit. It was a good opportunity for him to catch up and quickly conclude this first trial.

Enduring tremendous pressure at every single moment had already caused quite a few people to choose to retreat and leave the Thousand-Step Staircase.

After all, wanting to linger on a certain step for a while to rest was hardly realistic. The pressure was omnipresent, and standing still without moving forward would only make things even more precarious.

Luo Tian was well aware that every single member of the Wind and Cloud Guard was selected from the very best within the sphere of influence of Thousand Wind City. If he could guide these people to make breakthroughs, the efficiency would naturally be much higher.

After all, compared to advancements in raw elemental energy, progress in profound intent provided far less energy for the evolution of the divine eyes. Although Luo Tian had not yet tested this on cultivators of the Vein-Flowing Realm since entering it, making progress in profound intent was far more difficult than breakthroughs in basic elemental strength.

From this perspective, guiding profound intent should yield the best results and the highest efficiency.

Since that was the case, he simply had to secure this first place. Even if Jiang Zihe was ahead of him, he had to surpass him. Only by combining fame and reputation with one's own strength, complemented by the word-of-mouth spread of others, could one solidify their position most rapidly.

Moreover, Luo Tian felt not a shred of guilt regarding the killing of Jiang Zhenglong, so naturally, there was no need to offer any compensation to this Jiang Zihe. Stepping on him a little more wouldn't hurt.

At this moment, Luo Tian also sensed that the rate of his elemental energy consumption had accelerated significantly. Knowing that he needed to speed up, he immediately ignored the rather odd-looking Huazefeng and climbed three steps in succession.

Fall! Fall!

Fall down already, will you!

Watching Luo Tian charge forward fiercely just like him, Huazefeng felt an overwhelming surge of anticipation in his heart. This brat really knew nothing about the immensity of heaven and earth, actually—

Wait, why is he completely fine?

Blinking his eyes several times, Huazefeng saw that after completing three steps, Luo Tian merely swayed slightly before standing firm and starting to walk again.

Could this brat really be from the Divine Sun Sect?

Or does he have some sort of formidable background?

Huazefeng could not understand why Luo Tian, coming from an obscure and declining sect, managed to be just a tiny bit more formidable than himself, an elite scion of the Hua family.

It was truly ghost-like.

Hearing the footsteps behind him growing extremely close—separated by a mere few steps at most—Jiang Zihe felt a flicker of astonishment. He had naturally heard Luo Tian's words just now, but he could never have imagined that the person vaguely threatening his ranking would actually be this fellow from the Divine Sun Sect.

It did not matter, however. The Divine Sun Sect was located in a remote backwater and had nothing worth mentioning. He would simply take it upon himself to teach this fellow a profound and vivid lesson about life.

Within the territory of Thousand Wind City, the Jiang family was the sole ruler, and every single scion of the Jiang family was a true genius.

This bumpkin had struggled bitterly all the way up here, delusional enough to grab first place just to go back and brag about it—

That was absolutely not going to fly with him.

No matter how one tried to deny it, people were inherently different. Trying hard to change certain things was simply too difficult.

Stepping firmly onto the two hundred and tenth step, Jiang Zihe wore an arrogant smirk at the corners of his mouth. He turned his head slightly, wanting to witness Luo Tian's unsightly posture sprawled across the stairs.

Was he panting heavily, or was he merely putting up a stubborn facade while standing?

Hearing no unusual noises, Jiang Zihe still felt a sliver of interest in seeing with his own eyes what Luo Tian's pathetic state would look like at the end. Would it be amusing?

Luo Tian's figure appeared abruptly within Jiang Zihe's field of vision. The moment his right foot stepped onto the two hundred and tenth step, his left foot immediately followed.

Two hundred and eleventh step!

Having walked up to this point, Luo Tian suddenly halted, turned his head, and looked levelly at Jiang Zihe with a hint of concern in his tone. "If you can't hold on, don't force yourself. Rest for a while, there are still more assessments ahead!"

Luo Tian truly couldn't bear to watch his fellow disciples push themselves too hard. In case they damaged their cultivation foundations, dealing with breakthrough bottlenecks later on would become a troublesome chore.

Can't hold on?

Ha! When has any scion of the Jiang family ever said they couldn't hold on?

Ignoring Luo Tian completely, Jiang Zihe once again began to struggle forward with all his might.

Two hundred and fifteen...

Two hundred and seventeen...

Two hundred and twenty!

Every time he took a step forward, even though yellow light surged around his body and his third-transition Vein-Flowing Realm strength was displayed beyond doubt, Jiang Zihe still had to pause and rest for a brief moment until his body completely adapted to the gravity before continuing onward.

Gravitational force exceeding twenty thousand catties was something Jiang Zihe dared not take lightly, no matter how confident he was.

Therefore, only after his muscles began to tremble slightly and he firmly planted himself on the two hundred and twentieth step did Jiang Zihe finally let out a sigh of relief.

This brat should be finished by now, right?

Jiang Zihe found it an excruciating struggle just to endure these twenty-odd thousand catties, so he naturally assumed it was impossible for Luo Tian to have come this far up.

"Look! Can this possibly be real?"

"That Luo Tian actually managed to catch up to Jiang Zihe?"

"Isn't this way too absurd? This so-called Divine Sun Sect manages to send a single disciple to participate in the Wind and Cloud Guard assessment, and he thinks he can fly straight to the heavens?"

Ling Qinghe expressionlessly watched as Luo Tian clung tenaciously to Jiang Zihe's heels, chasing him up step by step. On the surface, Jiang Zihe naturally held a slight upper hand, but if one carefully observed the state and posture of the two during their climb, there was no need to even discuss who was stronger and who was weaker.

Yet, how could this be possible?

Even though Jiang Zihe was merely a collateral scion of the Jiang family, he had already reached the third transition of the Vein-Flowing Realm—a full two tiers higher than Luo Tian, who hailed from the Divine Sun Sect. Yet their performances were polar opposites.

Watching Huazefeng walk down with an extremely unsightly expression, Ling Qinghe's gaze could not help but ripple with fluctuation.

Both of these fellows have reached the two hundred and twenty-fifth step...

Are they even human anymore?

Feng Renliang gently bit his lower lip, his expression a mix of envy and jealousy. No matter how far Jiang Zihe progressed, it was entirely within reason; but by what right was this Luo Tian able to keep pace?

Absolute bastards, both of them!

Bastard!

Jiang Zihe roared internally. Luo Tian remained right behind him like his own shadow, following closely without missing a single step, showing not the slightest intention of failing to hold on.

On the contrary, Jiang Zihe was already beginning to feel waves of helplessness.

Not only was his elemental energy truly starting to lag behind, but the psychological pressure was also immense.

If Luo Tian had simply displayed an overwhelming advantage and trampled all the way to the three-hundredth step—no, even the two-and-fiftieth step would do—Jiang Zihe would have found ten thousand reasons to persuade himself to concede defeat.

And he would have conceded cleanly and decisively.

Yet what on earth was this situation now?

He neither stopped nor surpassed him, just hauntingly lingering right behind his back like a vengeful spirit...

Wasn't this sheer psychological torture?

Gnashing his teeth bitterly, Jiang Zihe glared at Luo Tian's innocent expression, feeling an even greater surge of fury. He pressed his lips together and continued upward.

Two hundred and twenty-eight!

Two hundred and twenty-nine!

Two hundred and thirty!

All the flush had drained from Jiang Zihe's face, and his eyes were practically rolling back. His legs trembled uncontrollably, as if in the very next second, he might lose his footing and collapse flat onto the ground.

During the previous Wind and Cloud Guard assessment, Jiang Zihe had never advanced this far, so his prior estimations of his own strength and results had been somewhat inaccurate. Talking about two hundred and fifty or two hundred and seventy steps was still far too premature.

However, if not for Luo Tian disgustingly and tenaciously hanging right behind him, Jiang Zihe's sound mindset and abundant self-confidence would have prevented him from nearing his limit merely at the two hundred and thirtieth step.

Luo Tian carefully sensed the current state of his body. Although he was also showing a slight tendency toward reaching his limit, climbing another ten or eight steps wouldn't pose much of a problem.

Seeing that Jiang Zihe was almost at the end of his tether, Luo Tian couldn't help but speak up. "Are you holding up alright? If you can't—"

Hearing those words, Jiang Zihe reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on and almost leaped into the air.

Can't?

Who can't hold on?

Who are you saying can't?

You're a disciple of the Divine Sun Sect, and you think you're qualified to point fingers and offer evaluations?

Just as Jiang Zihe was preparing to risk his very life to climb another five steps higher, Ling Qinghe's lips parted slightly, and he spoke in a resonant voice loud enough for everyone to hear: "Jiang Zihe and Luo Tian are tied! The first round of the assessment is concluded!"