Chapter One: Heaven's First Floor

  This young man looks about the same height as Shen Shi, with a similar facial expression to the old marquis seen at the foot of the mountain earlier. Especially on his cheek, there is also a piece of flesh, but the old marquis looked fierce and had a rough face, while this little guy looks pleasant to the eye, with a somewhat chubby appearance, like a little fatty.

  However, at this moment, the little fatty's eyes gleamed with a fierce light, looking as if he was going to take revenge for his old father. Shen Shi also started to feel a headache, and thinking about the black scroll sealed in the small jar yesterday, he couldn't help but feel a few more points of guilt when he saw the little fatty's gaze. He dryly laughed and said: "I'm Shen Shi, what do you want?"

  That little fatty stared at him and said: "My dad said you cheated him out of something good yesterday at the South Heavenly Gate, hurry up and hand it over to me!"

  Shen Shi raised an eyebrow and said, "Oh, did he say what that good thing is?"

  The little fatty angrily said: "Don't pretend, you're just a small can." As he spoke, his hands also drew two strokes, roughly drawing out the shape of that small can.

  Looking at the little fatty's angry expression, Shen Shi did not immediately answer his question. Instead, he first looked him up and down, seemingly thinking of something, then smiled and said: "Are you Old Hou's son? From now on, we can be considered fellow disciples. By the way, what's your name?"

  The little fatty sneered and said, "My name is Hou Sheng, don't think that by getting close to me I'll let you off, quickly hand over that small can, or else I'll beat you up."

  Shen Shi thought for a moment and said, "Yesterday I indeed bought a small jar at the South Heavenly Gate, but I don't know if your old man told you how many spirit crystals I spent on it?"

  Hou Sheng was taken aback, and before he could say anything, Shen Shi had already stretched out a finger and said, "I spent one Spirit Crystal." Then, with a hint of a smile, he looked at Hou Sheng and asked, "What kind of special good thing do you think can be bought with one Spirit Crystal?"

  Hou Sheng's chubby face turned red, and he still didn't want to give up. He shouted loudly with his neck stretched out: "My dad said it was a good thing, you cheated him..."

  Shen Shi directly interrupted his words and said: "Your father said that's a good thing, what exactly is it? Tell me."

  Hou Sheng was speechless.

  Shen Shi sneered and said: "Since it's such a good thing, why did your father agree to sell it for just one Ling crystal? Has he told you the reason behind this?"

  Hou Sheng was as stupid as a wooden chicken. These things, Old Hou had never mentioned to him before, after all, they involved using Huang Jing Shi to deceive another loose cultivator's Ling Jing. Although Old Hou's character wasn't great, he still couldn't bring himself to boast about such behavior in front of his son, so he only roughly mentioned that Shen Shi must have swindled a small jar from him yesterday, which might be something good.

  Hou Sheng was furious after hearing this and came to settle the score with Shen Shi, but he was unexpectedly turned back by Shen Shi's few words. The little fatty wasn't a complete idiot either, having heard and seen his father's tricks at the South Heaven Gate market over the years. So when Shen Shi asked him a few questions, he took a deep breath and thought carefully, roughly understanding what had happened yesterday...

  Others have spent money to buy things, but you are here regretting and accusing people of being cheaters. This approach seems a bit unreasonable. Xiao Pang's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and his chubby face suddenly looked embarrassed. It was difficult for him to say anything more about this as a young man. In the end, Hou Sheng suddenly stomped his foot and muttered something under his breath before ignoring Shen Shi and running towards Bai Xian Rock in big strides.

  Shen Shi, who was left standing there, was also stunned for a moment. He took a glance at the back of that little fatty and knew that even if he hadn't seen his face, Hou Sheng must have been furious with a red face, treating him as an archenemy.

  He let out a soft sigh with a hint of helplessness and shook his head, continuing to walk upwards once again.

  The stone steps have more than 100 levels, leaning upwards, and from the ground up, it looks like a sky road. But when you are in the middle of it, walking halfway, you will find that because there is no handrail on both sides of the stone steps, the angle of the upward carving is also steep, and as you walk, there is a sense of adventure.

  About halfway up the stone steps, Shen Shi quickly discovered that many of the young men and women who had come before him were slowing down their pace unconsciously. At this moment, standing on the stone steps, it felt as if the sea breeze had suddenly increased a lot, as if one might be blown off the giant rock with a slight carelessness, and once looking back, the scene was even more terrifying, only to see below steeply cut, far from the ground, if accidentally rolled down, I'm afraid it would be smashed into minced meat.

  The young boys and girls on the stone steps looked tense, some of them were timid, and even their footsteps seemed to be trembling. Shen Shi subconsciously turned his head back, a gust of sea breeze blew over, and he felt that his body was about to float away, with a faint sense of losing control and rolling down. Suddenly, a cold sweat broke out, and he quickly turned his head back, taking a deep breath before feeling slightly better.

  He gazed at the stone steps in front of him, no longer daring to look back. He took a deep breath and after a while his heart, which had been racing violently, finally calmed down a bit.

  "Waaaahhh..." Suddenly, a faint sound of suppressed and fearful sobbing came from not far in front of Shen Shi. He looked up to see a girl with a pale face, her body trembling slightly, she was so scared that she couldn't help but burst into tears on the stone steps five or six levels higher than him.

  This cry was not a big deal, but in the blink of an eye, it seemed to spread like a contagion, and similar sounds seemed to be coming from all directions. Although everyone tried their best to suppress themselves, their bodies were tense to the extreme. These young boys and girls were still small after all, and some children who had a good life had never experienced such a thrilling scene since childhood, and for a while, they really couldn't accept it.

  However, after being shocked by the sudden crying around him, Shen Shi's spirit was lifted, and his original tension seemed to be relieved a lot, and he couldn't help but feel a little amused in his heart.

  Perhaps in his youth, in that western willow city, he had followed a butcher and seen blood, killed lives, other skills dare not say more, this courage was thicker than ordinary young people.

  Turning around to look, I saw that several girls had red eyes with tears welling up. In comparison, although there were also many pale-faced boys, not one of them was actually crying.

  Far below the Baisen Rock, the crowd of onlookers had not dispersed. Those who came to see off were either relatives and friends or attendants from wealthy families. No one was at ease unless they saw these young men and women climb up the Baisen Rock with their own eyes. At this moment, some sharp-eyed people saw something unusual halfway up the stone steps of the Baisen Rock from a distance. Many boys stopped in their tracks for no reason, and some children even trembled with fear. This situation suddenly caused a stir among the crowd under the rock, and many people's faces turned worried as they unconsciously moved closer to the stone steps of the Baisen Rock.

  Just then, a thick male voice came from the top of Baisen Rock, calm and quiet in tone, but with an invisible mighty force that suppressed all movements, leaving only this one sound echoing on the giant rock at this moment.

  "The path to immortality is long and fraught with countless dangers, can those with a weak heart and will succeed? A small stone step, if one cannot ascend, then the connection to immortality is severed, it's up to oneself."

  The sound faded away, and the area above and below the stone was quiet. Countless people looked up and gazed into the distance, all with anxious hearts, staring tensely at the young men on the stone steps.

  As for the stone steps, the atmosphere at this moment was even more solemn. That thick and dull voice, all the young people on the stone steps naturally heard it, and the meaning of those words was also clear.

  After the voice disappeared, several boys among the young people suddenly hummed a sound, as if they had made up their minds and continued to climb silently. Led by these boys, the remaining children, whether boys or girls, naturally understood that there was only one choice left in front of them, and they all cheered up, even though their legs were still a little soft, they gritted their teeth and persisted in going up.

  Shen Shi was also an inconspicuous one in the crowd, with a calm face, and at this moment he continued to move forward, occasionally raising his head to look ahead, but unexpectedly saw that among the few boys in front, there was actually Xiao Pangzi Hou Sheng.

  But at this moment, the stone steps are getting steeper and more precipitous, with an increasingly large tilt angle, looking more and more frightening. Even the person walking in the front, although mustering up the courage to continue moving forward, can't help but feel fearful and intimidated. At the same time, as people climb higher, the sea wind is also getting stronger, with waves of surging seawater crashing against the giant stone cliffs, making it seem like each crash makes the massive rock tremble slightly, creating a terrifying illusion that everyone might fall off at any moment.

  To maintain balance, the boys in front had already lowered their bodies, with both hands on the stone steps, using their hands and feet, trying to get as close to the steps as possible, then climbing up step by step with difficulty.

  Shen Shi also thought so, and secretly scolded in his heart. This Ling Xiao Sect is really too particular about rules and regulations. Even when receiving new disciples at Bai Xian Rock last time, they made such a big fuss. At this moment, all around him were heavy gasps for breath, because of excessive tension, the physical strength of these young men was also rapidly being consumed.

  Gradually, the young people were divided into several levels at the front and back. The first batch of about seven or eight people walked the fastest and had the best complexion, including Xiao Pangzi Hou Sheng. The middle section had the most people, with about thirty or forty people looking tense but still continuing to climb upwards at a fairly good speed. As for the dozen or so people who fell behind, they looked the worst off, with several girls crying out loud and several thin and timid boys all in this group.

  Shen Shi's situation looked okay, although he didn't seem to be climbing very fast, but still managed to keep up with the middle group. This was because he had started late and was caught by Xiao Pangzi Hou Sheng for a while, which delayed him. Now he moved forward slowly, and although his speed seemed average, he somehow kept passing people along the way and gradually reached the middle of the team.

  "That little fatty, can't tell from the looks of it but his legs are quite agile...” Shen Shi narrowed his eyes and took a glance at the little fatty who was climbing extremely fast in front, shook his head, and continued to climb up another layer of stone steps. Not far ahead, there was a girl with a pale complexion, stopping on the path in front of him to catch her breath, panting heavily, looking very tired.

  Shen Shi glanced at her and thought the girl looked quite pretty, but didn't think much of it and prepared to pass by her side and continue on his way. The girl, panting, looked at Shen Shi with a hint of unwillingness to be overtaken, gritted her teeth and continued walking forward.

  Who would have thought that at this moment, the girl's footsteps had just stepped onto the high stone steps. A strong gust of wind suddenly blew over, and it was unclear whether she was exhausted or slipped on her feet. The girl's body swayed, and she lost her footing. After letting out a shrill cry, her body suddenly fell towards Shen Shi!

  At that moment, the entire stone staircase seemed to be stunned, and Shen Shi was also momentarily blank in his mind, only feeling that his heart was about to jump out of his chest at that moment. He stared stupidly at that somewhat frail body, which fell down from in front of him, accompanied by a terrifying gust of wind and an overwhelming shadow.

  This steep stone staircase cliff, next is it going to fall down in one piece, and then everyone will perish together...